His Conundrum
by LadyAkuma20
Summary: How in the world could some new woman be so perplexing? She wasn't that special, so what in the world was drawing Rodney McKay to her? When they end up on a hellish mission, can they come together to stop the threat, or will their hard-headed tendencies tear them apart? (Rodney McKay -x- OC)
1. 1: Welcome to Atlantis

'Holy shit…' Kait swore in her head, as she took one look at the Stargate. Her head whipped around… her eyes were wide and her face a mask of awe and terror.

"They're waiting over on Atlantis, Dr. Nichols. You'd best not keep them waiting." General O'Neill said, gesturing towards the gate, as she gulped and nodded, hoisting her bags over her shoulder. In one was obviously clothing, including extra Atlantis uniforms, and spare shirts, jeans, shorts, a few dresses. You know, the basics. In the other one, filled to the brim, were various books, a few texts on Ancient technology that very few people had ever owned, some less serious reading material, and of course her trusted computer, and the new tablet that SG:C had generously given her, telling her that her own ancient Alienware beast would not be needed. She had still insisted on bringing it, mind you since the strange tablet didn't even seem to work. And of course, her toiletries and make up was also there.

She closed her eyes and entered the event horizon…

* * *

Meanwhile:

"You know, I don't know why we need to be here waiting. If this new scientist Stargate Command is sending can't even be prompt on their arrival time, then why should we give them the time of day to have some fancy welcome?" McKay grumbled as he shifted from one foot to another. Dr. Weir shot him another stern look.

"Because, Rodney, you and Zelenka need to be here to meet the newest member of your department." Elizabeth simply said, as he rolled his eyes.

As he moved to shift and get comfortable from the control area, someone walked through the event horizon.

"Awfully small, for a guy." McKay commented, as Zelenka squinted.

"Rodney, I'm not sure that is a guy."

"Well of course it is, Radek, the file said K. Nichols, the only K. Nichols who would even be qualified to be here is Kevin Nichols, a highly intelligent man, although why they would send a doctor of natural sciences is beyond me. And I had heard he died, but you know how that goes."

"No, Rodney, it doesn't 'go' like that on Earth and you know it…" Zelenka said, shaking his head. Of course, Rodney ignored him.

Dr. Weir headed down the stairs to meet their newest addition, smiling and shaking their hand. There appeared to be short hair and a semi-stocky build on the newcomer, and she lead them up the stairs.

"Dr. McKay, Zelenka, I'd like you to meet Dr. Kaitlyn Nichols, a physicist and archaeologist, who has studied Ancient technology and also is an ATA gene carrier. Kaitlyn, this is Dr. Rodney McKay and Dr. Radek Zelenka."

"Kaitlyn?" McKay said confused, as Kait, from behind Dr. Weir, pulled her military hat off and shrugged off the jacket that made her look bulky.

"Oh thank god I can get this garbage off… SG:C insisted I wear the stupid military hat and coat, in case something went wrong." She said as she shook her brunette hair from the stiff position it was in thanks to the hat. She brushed off her pants, and extended her hand to Radek and Rodney, who still looked slightly flabbergasted.

"It's a pleasure." Zelenka said, throwing a smirk at Rodney. As she turned to look around, Zelenka mouthed 'Told you." to Rodney, making him grumble.

"Can you two show her the labs? I would go with you but I have some other stuff that I need to see to." Elizabeth said, as Radek nodded.

"Sure. Come on, Dr. Nichols." He said, and she nodded, tugging her bags back on her shoulder.

* * *

McKay was still trying to figure this one out, since they hadn't sent new female scientists in a while, and they hadn't planned to simply because of the increased threat of the Wraith. No one had wanted to put a woman in danger.

"Kaitlyn…"

"Kait, please. Either Kait or Dr. K or Nicky for my last name." she said, as she made a little face.

"What's so bad about Kaitlyn? Seems like a pretty sensible name to me." Rodney said, as she nodded.

"It is. Destiny, however, my middle name that people seem to love to call me by, is not. I think my mother was on crack when she picked that one. And why? Because of some stupid fortune teller who said I had an 'air of destiny about me' before my mother had even had a chance to push me out. Stupid superstitious nonsense." She grumbled, hefting her bag up as Zelenka snorted and McKay blinked. "And besides, I have all my friends call me Kait."

"Well, fine Kait. How did you come upon the Ancient sciences?" Zelenka asked, as she nodded.

"When I was a kid, I found this." She pulled out a small charm, it looked innocent enough. "I thought it was pretty, so I put it on a chain, and wore it everywhere. Well, when I was scuba diving as a teen, it opened an underground chamber. I got sucked inside. It took me 3 days to figure out how to get out, but once I did, I was intrigued. I began to study it, found books that seemed like stories and not fact. When I was older, some of my theories on Ancients and former protectors of Earth were discovered by the military, and I was asked to join when I graduated college. I finished, I joined, and boom. I was sent to Atlantis." She said, shrugging at them.

"You were scuba diving alone?" McKay asked skeptically.

"Well, I lived near the ocean, it wasn't unheard of."

"Man, that's just bad parenting… who lets their kid go scuba diving unsupervised?" he said, as she glared.

"It's normal where I'm from." She said, as they rounded the corner to the labs. "Oh, hey, I was given this tablet-thing, but I think it's broken, I tried to turn it on before I left Earth and nothing."

"Did you try it once you got here?" McKay smirked at her, and she glared, again.

"I dunno, does it look like I did? I haven't even had a chance to pee, let alone magically boot up some tablet." She said, hitting the power button.

"Yes, those have to be turned on and calibrated here, but once they are, they can be used anytime we're offworld. It's very handy." Zelenka said, as she nodded, watching it boot up finally.

"Oh, well that explains it. Atlantis tech. Also explains why I didn't recognize any of the insignias on it. I was thinking it would be an Earth brand."

"Yeah well, it's not there for you to go on Myspace on or whatever people use those crappy new tablets for. It's strictly for work." McKay gave her a look, and she returned it.

"I'm not a 15 year old high school brat who got some new piece of tech to play with. I know what it's for. I brought my own computer for personal interests." She glared, as he, also, returned the look.

They reached the labs, and she gawked for a moment at all of the new technology that was there. "Holy super computers Batman…" she muttered, as she faintly, very gently touched one of the control panels.

"Ok, let's get down to business. This is the main lab, this is where you'll be most of the time, however there are times where you'll be on missions or working around Atlantis. Also, you'll be getting some weapons training from Sheppard, and Ronon will be doing some hand-to-hand combat training. You happened to come on a 'free day' though, so none of that will start until tomorrow." McKay said, matter of factly. Kait just nodded, all of this was so fascinating to her. She was in her own world, so much that she didn't even hear McKay speak until the second time he said it.

"Were you not listening? You can go to your quarters now." His arms crossed and he looked at her with an annoyed expression. She glared and gave him a look.

"Uh, Rodney…"

"Oh for the love of god, Zelenka, what? I have things I'd like to get done on my one day off in about a month."

"Does she even know where her quarters are?"

Keep in mind, Kait had decided to simply wait for this, well, jerk honestly, to realize she hadn't been shown her quarters.

"Oh. Right. Well, Zelenka, show her to her quarters." McKay said dismissively, and Zelenka rolled his eyes and motioned for her to follow him.

As they headed down the hall, she grumbled. "So, what's his deal? You'd think I just pissed in his cheerios or something…" she said, making Zelenka choke back a laugh.

"You'll get used to it. He's a bit of an ass, to be honest, but he also is very bright. You'll learn a lot I think." He said, as she nodded. "Besides, rumor has it that his date with one of the women in the medical department did not go so well last night, so he's already cranky."

"Gee, a date with that guy not going well? Who'd have thought." She muttered, as Zelenka chuckled.

"You'll be surprised, I think. Rodney McKay is not all bad, once you get to know him. It's those who do not get to know him who have the most trouble with him."

She simply nodded, but her head didn't believe Zelenka. With the way that man had behaved, there was no way there was some softer interior.

They stopped at a door. "Now, these are your quarters, just raise your hand here to open the door, like so." He demonstrated for her how to open the door. "The lights on the inside work in a similar fashion. Let us know if you need anything." He warmly said, as she gave him a look of amusement.

"Us?"

"Er… ok, so let me know if you need something. We'll get you introduced to everyone in just a bit. And feel free to go exploring." He said, walking off, as she hoisted her bags into her room and, with a sigh, flopped onto the bed.

She had not been expecting this a month ago. Hell, when she had gotten a knock on the door from what she had assumed were regular military types, she thought she was in trouble because her research had led her to Area 51, and she had perhaps nosed around there a bit too much. In fact, that's exactly what it was, but O'Neill and Daniel Jackson weren't there to throw her in the brig, as it were. Instead, they were there to hire her and show her all of the things that she had been right about in her research. She had begun working on unlocking many different weapons, and various other tech of the Ancients. It was her ability to work on Ancient tech that had gotten her sent to Atlantis, and signed on as the latest person to work on the science team.

And that Stargate… holy cow. She'd never seen such a thing, and seeing a live Stargate for the first time on her trip to Atlantis had been astonishing, to say the least. It was like Alice going through the looking glass…

And on that note… her stomach gave a large growl.

Sighing, she dug through her one bag and wrestled out an Atlantis uniform in grey, with purplish blue accents. She stripped off the military uniform and pulled on the new pants, a black t-shirt, and the jacket that matched the pants. Pulling on her sneakers along with it, since she would be damned if she had to wear military boots or boots of any kind for the rest of her time here, she straightened, pulled her hair into a messy bun with the ends sticking out of the top, and she left her room and began the long expedition to… well… any room with food.

* * *

In the labs, McKay was working on his latest brilliant project. A device shaped similar to a Bluetooth headset for the phone, but it allowed the wearers to have a 2-way connection into each other's minds. It would make communications so much easier for those on off-world missions that need to split up. This 'mandatory break day' that Weir had been implementing was actually a great time to have the labs to himself to work on any little projects that aren't important enough (scratch that, everything he worked on was important) to involve a whole team with. Besides that, the others didn't have the needed knowledge of the Ancients to properly design technology similar if not more advanced than they had. Hell, even the Ancients hadn't figured out how to -

What in the world was that?

Getting up, making a mental note of what he was doing, he poked his head out the door to hear another muttered set of curses and swears. A rather impressive string of curses at that, if he did say so himself.

Clearing his throat, he watched the frustrated female turn and look at him.

"I'm guessing by the colorful language that something's wrong?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"I'm trying to get to ANYPLACE in this damnable city that has food… I haven't eaten in a day because those damn military types rushed me here, and-" her stomach rumbled loudly "…I'm just hungry."

Sighing, McKay held his hand out in a gesture that clearly said to wait a second, and while he put up his project, he was oblivious to her walking in behind him.

"Hey, may I ask what that is? It looks… Ancient… but not." She said, and he jumped a mile. He turned around quickly, trying to get her to leave.

"WHOA, what happened to wait?! It's a personal project, nothing for you to fiddle with and play with." He said dismissively, and she narrowed her eyes.

"First off, you never said wait, you made a quick little hand gesture. Second, considering I recognized it as part Ancient with a glance should speak volumes, and third, I honestly just want to eat dinner right now, and I don't care about tinkering with your machine right now. So, since I seem to have royally pissed you off somehow, even though I have been in this damn city for all of an hour and a half or so, I'm going back to cussing at corners until I find something for sustenance, if you don't mind."

She spun on her heels and headed out the door, and McKay blinked. After a moment, he gathered his materials, put them away, and took off after her.

"Wait. WAIT! Jeeze, you stubborn woman, would you just slow down?" She stopped in her tracks, a look rivaling his worst on her face. He bent over, catching his breath. "C'mon, I'm not as young as I used to be…Not to say I'm old or anything though…" he said, panting. He looked up… damn, still had that pissed off look… Well, Weir would be proud of that face. "Ok, look, I get it. I'm just confused by why they sent you. I've been trying to figure it out… with the Wraith coming closer and now the Replicators, I can't understand them sending any more female non-military personnel. In fact they flat out told us they wouldn't…" he said, as she put her hand on her hip.

"Is that what's been bugging you? Holy crap McKay… I was sent because of my research… and the fact that I found a ZPM off the Hawaiian coast in that site that I found a long time ago certainly helped…"

"You found a ZPM? How long ago?"

"Oh, about a year ago. I had no idea what it was. I thought it was a strange gem of some kind, so I kept it in my office as a souvenir. But what I found in the site led me to Area 51… and about a month or so ago, they kind of caught me poking my nose around. After some… very intense… interrogation, I was determined to know too much to not bring aboard the Stargate program, but the amount I had learned on my own about the Ancients was too valuable for them to just leave on Earth. So, despite the ban on new female personnel and any children on Atlantis, they sent me."

He still looked a bit perplexed, but they continued walking, heading for the cafeteria area. His head was trying to put the pieces together. "Wait, you said you found that site as a teenager." He said. She nodded.

"Yeah, but I went back a few times. Once I figured out how to get out, I figured it couldn't hurt. And I love to see new tech." she said, as he actually looked mildly impressed.

They arrived at the cafeteria, and went to get food. He watched as she piled food on her tray in a manner that rivaled his own, and he gawked a bit. She blinked at him.

"Dr. McKay?"

"Oh, sorry, uh… I've simply never really seen anyone else, you know… eat like I do on here." He said, gesturing to her tray, as he loaded his own up. She looked down at the tray, and realized just what he meant, and bit back a laugh.

"I've always eaten like this, it helps me think when I load up." She said, as he pointed at her.

"I've said that to the others here for YEARS! It helps the process!" he exclaimed, as she nodded in agreement. Looking around, he spotted Sheppard and Teyla and Ronon, and he motioned to them. "Well, look I'd love to continue this conversation, but, uh, I need to go over there, we have a mission to a new world to discuss." He said, as she nodded.

"Sounds good, Dr. McKay. I'll talk to you later." She said, as he nodded and gave a small wave, heading over to the others.

She stood there, feeling a bit like a lump on a log, and turned, heading to her quarters. It would not be the first time, or the last time, she figured, that she would be eating alone. After she sat down in her quarters, she set her food down, and rifled around for her Mp3 player, and realizing she left it, she swiftly hooked up her laptop and set up her Itunes. Putting P!nk's _'Don't let me get me'_ on, she sat back and let the lyrics wash over her as she ate.

* * *

**Author's Note: EEK, this is my first try at a Stargate fic, and my LONGEST first chapter EVER. Maybe this show is my muse? Dunno. Obviously, Kait is an original character and is NOT canon to the SG universe. Hope you enjoyed!**


	2. 2: Of Mice and Puddle Jumpers

Chewing the end of her stylus, Kait glared at the screen with an annoyed grunt, the calculations on her screen frustrating her immensely. Radek was insisting they were correct, but something was off. They were trying to incorporate a new backup power drive onto the puddle jumpers, but it was being stubborn, and they had no way of telling if it was working without numerous failed simulations. Glancing around and spotting no one, she let out a frustrated sigh and pulled her hair loose, pulled her outer jacket and t-shirt off, and grabbed her mobile music player, which she had found tucked away. She plugged it into her ears and, wearing her camisole undershirt, she began to get back to work, this time, oblivious to the world around her.

Let's see… move this number here… and that one to there… round it up… no, wait, the Naquadah generators can't do that… and we can't shove ZPM's in every single puddle jumper…

She continued her work, for about, say, an hour, or three, adding that to the time she had already spent on her work, well, her self-assigned job of fixing Radek's work… and after that awesome time frame, she sat up with a jolt, her eyes wide.

"Damnit Radek, why did you overcomplicate it!?" she exclaimed, bounding out of her chair and heading down the halls, her tablet in her hands as she took off.

Turn left here, and right down here… damn it, where was he…

She hadn't had a chance to really learn the place yet, so she was still easily able to get lost. She did love the city however, it was gorgeous… the Ancients had made a truly magnificent city. She had been learning some of the basics of fighting from Sheppard and Ronon, and had even had a lesson or two with Teyla. Sheppard had taught her some of the basics of the weapons, as well. Unfortunately, that had meant that she hadn't had much time to learn her way around some of the back areas of the city.

Ugh, now where was the chair room again…?

* * *

Rodney and Radek were in the middle of some important work on the chair, the control chair for Atlantis, making sure that it stayed in good working order and that it was ready in case of attack… meaning that Colonel Sheppard was in the room too, using the chair in minor ways while they took notes and argued about various things, such as…

"It's fine, Radek…"

"No, Rodney, it's not, there's a distinct fluctuation in the chair's power when he accesses the weapons."

"Which has always been there, I'm guessing there's a failsafe code underlying in there."

"Guessing, Rodney?"

"Do you want to be the one to rip apart the chair and explain to Elizabeth as to why, exactly, you thought we needed to tear it up and play with it to find one line of failsafe coding that is probably buried far, far underneath all of the main coding and probably not even part of the main chair itself?"

Silence greeted Rodney after that statement, and he went back to his tablet, as Sheppard snorted in the chair.

"As amusing as this always is, guys, do you mind hurrying up? I've got things to do, too." He said, shooting both scientists a look.

"Colonel Sheppard, this is very important, and you know it is. We need to make sure the chair is in good shape in case of a Wraith att-"

"FINALLY! There it is!"

As the door slid open, the interrupter ran into the room, skidding to a halt as she entered the room swiftly. Sheppard grinned, and waved. "Hey Kait. We still on for weapons practice?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, yes." She said, dismissively, as she held the tablet basically under Radek's nose. He took it from her, and then peered at her.

"These were my calculations for the puddle jumpers… why do you have them?"

"I was bored. Anyhow, just look at them. Look at the simulation." She said, impatiently.

He glanced at the tablet again, as Rodney simply shot her a look. "And this couldn't wait until we were done? And what in the world are you wearing?" he asked, averting his eyes as she glanced down.

Oops. So apparently all of Atlantis had gotten a nice view of her boobs in her undershirt. "I forgot to grab my t-shirt. You act like you've never seen boobs before, McKay." She shot him a look as he sputtered and flushed lightly.

"He probably forgot what they look like, Kait. Don't mind him." Sheppard quipped, making Rodney shoot him a venomous look and Kait, well, she simply went back to showing Radek the equations.

Rodney blinked. Well, at least Sheppard couldn't kirk this one. That was a plus.

"Wait, you removed a whole set of coding! It can't work without the power restrictions-"

"Radek, did you ever think about wiring the secondary generators into the current restrictors? Using the same coding? Why make all new coding for something that isn't broken?"

"Because, it's not that simple, we're dealing with different power sources, their restrictor codes are for the ZPM and not our generators, which is what we'd be using."

"But, honestly, they seem to be able to exchange pretty easily. I mean to say, we use Naquadah generators with ZPM coding around here all the time, and Naquadah coding with ZPM power, too. It's worth a shot."

Glancing over, Rodney grabbed the tablet, then shot Radek a look. "What have I told you about overcomplicating things, Radek? C'mon. We've done this before."

"The risk that it will blow up in our faces is greater than you would like to think."

"You sound like Kavanagh now, Radek. You know I hated Kavanagh."

"GUYS! What do you think?" she tapped her foot impatiently.

"I don't think it will work, or that it's a good idea to try."

"…I say we try it. It can't hurt to give it a shot. Even if Doctor Shaking in my boots doesn't want to." He said, glancing to Radek, as Radek shook his head.

"I want to be a part of this, guys. I'm tired of working on side projects that don't do any real use to the city." Kait crossed her arms, as Radek looked kindly at her.

"Dr. Weir just thought to get you involved slowly, not overwhelm you. This can be a lot for anyone to take in." Radek said kindly, as she shook her head.

"I don't care, and I'm not overwhelmed. I'm bored out of my mind. I'm tired of working on stuff that the lower staff science team is working on. I mean… water filtration? Come on…"

Radek sighed. "Well if you're going to try this, Rodney, I want no part of it, I think it's a poor idea…"

"Noted, Radek. Nichols can help if you're so scared of it."

She blinked and stared at Rodney, who hadn't looked at her since noting her clothing. He glanced her way and shrugged, before refocusing on Radek.

"I'm not scared, I just think it is a waste of time, Rodney, and you know it." He said, as McKay shook his head.

"You do this, you know-"

"Guys, can I go now?" Sheppard asked, having been forgotten about temporarily. Rodney looked up, as if he hadn't realized he was still there, and nodded, waving him off. "Oh, yeah, go. We're pretty much done." He said, as Radek threw his hands up and started swearing in Czech.

"C'mon, Nichols, let's go try this out." Rodney said, as Sheppard took off as fast as he could, and Radek glared at Rodney and headed back to the lab.

Rodney motioned for Kait to follow him, and she did, albeit a bit surprised. "Er… Rodney…"

"Oh do you have some issue that you need to take care of now too that just can't wait until we're done working on this for a while?" he asked, as she crossed her arms.

"Well, unless you think my shirt half falling off while we're working on the puddle jumpers is a great idea… I'd LIKE to grab a shirt." She said, as his look changed and he flushed again.

"Oh. Right. Well we'll run by your quarters then…" he said, clearing his throat as she hurried to keep up.

"Rodney, why is this such a big deal anyhow? I mean I get that it's a great idea, that it's great to have secondary power, but why can it not really wait?"

"I've been on one too many of those Ancient metal death traps, and been trapped somewhere or in them with no power one too many times. Trust me, you want them to have a backup, protected power source."

As they neared the quarters, he stopped, and looked at her. "Ok, look… I want to get started. My quarters are here and yours are farther away, and … oh just hang on." He said, and headed into his room. She waited for a second as he came right back out, and tossed her a t-shirt.

"Just throw this on. As long as I get it back, I don't care." He said, as she unfolded the shirt and snorted at the words on it.

"I'm with genius? Really?"

"What? It's true." He said, as he motioned her into the opposite direction. She pulled the shirt on and followed him, a bit surprised that he had offered her a shirt, to be honest. He seemed to be the kind of person who wouldn't lend his things.

* * *

Working on the puddle jumpers had gone surprisingly well. There had yet to be any serious issues, and aside from it being hotter than hades in the jumper due to the exposed power sources, things were going great.

"I'm going to talk to Elizabeth about getting air conditioning installed in these things!"

"It's not that bad…"

"Honestly, do you just not like to complain or something? I mean, I get that you like it here and all, but come on some of the stuff that happens here has to annoy you." Rodney glanced over his shoulder as he worked on his tablet, as she glanced up from her position sitting criss-cross applesauce (what, she was a kid at heart ok?) on the floor.

"It's not that. I think it's hot too, but at least if you wanted to, you could go shirtless. Imagine how it sucks to not be able to do that. Yay societal norms."

"Please, you could too… wait…" he made a slight noise and went back to his work, re-thinking that line of conversation.

'Chalk this one to a win.' She thought with a snort, tucked a stray strand of hair out of her face. She glanced at her readings, and looked up at McKay. "Hey, do you see those fluctuations?" she asked, as he glanced down.

"Yeah, I'm compensating." He said, as she shook her head.

"Rodney they're rising too fast, we're going to blow a fuse. The coding hasn't fully been applied to our backup system yet…" she said, as he looked at her.

"I thought you had already finished uploading it?" he said, giving her a look.

"I said almost. I had to re-type the whole code." She said, as he blinked.

"Move away now…" he said, as she continued typing. "Nichols! MOVE!" he yelled, as the panel sparked. She threw her hand up, trying to scramble back as sparks started to fly from the open panel in front of her into her face. She closed her eyes, as a pair of hands grabbed her under her arms and tugged her backwards, away from the sparks.

"Nichols! Kait! Are you alright?" she heard McKay asking her, and she winced, her hand burned from the sparks, but she nodded.

"I'm fine. I should have typed faster." She winced, as he nodded and gave her a look.

"Yeah, you should have. Damn it, we could have been badly hurt if we I hadn't shut the power when I did. And it STILL sparked. I don't get it."

"I think I do. We overloaded it. We almost had it, but the coding didn't get input fast enough to take before you turned it on."

He had the decency to look sheepish at least. "Oh. Well, we'll try again tomorrow. Not a big deal." He started, but she stopped him and stood up.

"No, we can finish now. It just stings a bit."

"That's because you burned your arm, woman. Go get it bandaged."

"Look, one last try. We've just about got it, so we can try one more time. It's not like there'll be permanent damage if we wait for a few minutes." She said, as he crossed his arms.

"Fine. But don't get mad at me when Beckett chews you out." He said, as they headed back to work, checking their screens. After a few moments of making sure the coding took properly this time, they started the power again. This time, with the coding having been properly implemented, the generator activated as a backup power source with no issues. They sat and watched, making sure it worked alright, and as the readings showed everything being alright… she grinned up at him, and crossed her arms, albeit carefully.

"Yessssss!" she said, as he gave a smirk.

"Well, you were using Ancient codes and my own personal codes, which I have to say make the job much easier for you." He said, as she continued grinning at him. "What?"

"You're welcome."

He sputtered a bit, before raising his eyebrow at her. "And why would I need to thank you? I'd have figured it out." He said, as she grinned more.

"Uh huh. Sure you would have." She said, as she hoisted herself to her feet and held her arm to her chest gingerly. "And now, I'm going to get this wrapped up. I'll make sure not to get anything on your shirt." She said, as she headed for the infirmary.

* * *

Rodney simply stared at the door as she left, glancing at the coding. Yeah, he would have gotten it eventually, but he had to admit… she had figured out Radek's mistake pretty quickly. And besides that, she hadn't run off to medical to get patched up, insisting on staying… not something you saw often anymore.

And she didn't look that god-awful either. Part of him, the less-gentlemanly part, was almost wishing he had told her not to worry about an overshirt.

"McKay!" Sheppard. Just great. Now what?

"What is it, Sheppard?" he asked, annoyed.

"I was supposed to have weapons training with Nichols hours ago, have you guys been here this whole time?" he asked, as Rodney checked the time… 5 hours?!

"We didn't realize that much time had gone by. She's in the infirmary-"

"Oh now what happened Rodney?" Sheppard was being an ass again.

"Nothing! We just had a bit of an overload, but we fixed it. We now have a way to install back up power to the puddle jumpers in case of emergency. I'm going to get Colonel Caldwell to bring a ton of Naquadah generators as soon as he can, I think they have enough to spare on the Daedalus." He said, as Sheppard shook his head.

"Well, you do that Rodney. Is she ok at least?"

"Hm? Nichols? She's fine, just a scorch. Like I said she's getting patched up now." He gave Sheppard a look.

"Alright, I'm going to go check on her, see how she's doing."

"Oh for heaven's sake, Sheppard, it's not like she got into a fight with Ronon, she's got a singe on her arm. I've had worse than that. She'll have worse than that."

"Yeah, but unlike you, maybe I want some brownie points with her. Couldn't hurt to try." He grinned and left, as McKay groaned at him.

Figured. Probably would have been better for Nichols if she kept the coat on from her first day here. Sheppard wouldn't give it a rest until he'd kirked her like he had everyone else he wanted. It got annoying. Incredibly, mind-numbingly annoying. And it didn't matter what he said to ANYONE about it, he was just allowed to do whatever he pleased with the female staff, hell with the females of other freaking planets.

"Horny bastard is constantly kirking our women." He muttered under his breath.

* * *

Sheppard was in for a pretty big surprise anyhow.

"Kait, you ok? I ran into Rodney, he told me about your hand." He said, as she nodded.

"I'm fine, really. It's just a burn. It's already bandaged up."

"Oh, well good. That's good. So, since you missed weapons training, I figured you might want to go have lunch and go over what you missed today."

"Er, not really… I'm not really in a weapons mood, I'd honestly like to get back to the puddle jumpers…"

"Well you can do that. After some lunch. Well, dinner now actually. Guess I haven't eaten either. But yeah, we can grab a bite, talk."

"Sheppard…" she started, and held up a finger. "As much as I appreciate what I'm pretty sure you're doing, and find it flattering, especially since my hair right now is rivaling Hermione Granger mixed with Don King, I have to tell you, I'm really not into military types."

"Neither am I. See, look, something in common." He grinned at her. She smirked, but shook her head.

"Seriously. You're a friend, and one of the few that I've made here, but I really can't see it being more than that." She said, as he gave a sheepish grin and nodded.

"Alright, I get it. Friends works. You can't blame a guy for trying though." He said, shooting her a grin. "Especially after the chair room. I'm shocked you didn't get wolf calls through the halls, and speaking of which why do you have Rodney's shirt?"

"Oh! He grabbed it so I could work on the puddle jumpers with him without having a…er… wardrobe malfunction, so to speak." She said, grinning. He nodded, as Beckett came around the corner.

"Your scans show that it's just superficial-"

"Which I told you earlier."

"Pipe down, lass. You're clear to go, but don't bump that arm on anything or you'll risk pulling off skin. You're healing, remember that." Beckett scolded her, as she nodded and got out of bed.

"Great, thanks! Sheppard, it's been great, but I've got to get back to helping Rodney with those puddle jumpers. I don't want him to get hurt because he's trying to finish up without help. And you KNOW he didn't call Radek to help him." She said, as she took off before she could get a reply.

"Huh." Sheppard said, as Beckett shook his head.

"I swear, the scientists keep us medical team in a job when you military guys aren't out there getting shot at. Once a day or more, at least 4 science team members seem to roll in here with varying degrees of injuries, and I have to patch them up." Beckett shook his head, as Sheppard plopped into a chair.

"I think that she's the first person to actually LIKE working with Mr. Arrogant." Sheppard said, as Beckett snorted.

"Well, that's not all that shocking. The two have similar knowledge, even if there is a good few years of age difference."

"Huh. Imagine that."

* * *

As she got back to the puddle jumper hangar, she noted a grumpy Rodney. Well, wonderful. She entered the jumper they had been working on, and grabbed her monitor.

"So, where are you at?"

"Well, I'm shocked you're back here. Usually Colonel I-wanna-be-Kirk Sheppard would have most females on a date at this point. And I say females, because species doesn't matter…" he grumbled, stylus in his mouth. She blinked.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright. Besides that…" she said, going next to him and reaching up to grab a hanging wire that was in his face, moving it. "I don't like military types. Not like that anyhow." She made a face.

Rodney just turned to look at her, a strange look on his face. Well, miracles do happen, he supposed. She checked her tablet and smirked.

"Want some dinner?"

He glanced at his work, then looked at his tablet for a second. Everything was stable. Why not.

"I'm a bit peckish…" he said, as she snickered.

"Meaning the cafeteria is about to run short on food."

"Hey! Last time I saw, you were the one smuggling out a whole half gallon of cotton candy ice cream out of there."

She simply shrugged as they left the jumper.

"Eh, you do what you gotta do." She said, eliciting a snort of amusement from him.

* * *

As the two scientists walked in, Sheppard, from his table, tilted his head. "Huh."

"What is it, John?" Teyla asked him, concerned. Surprisingly, for them, Rodney went to sit at another table, discussing something in depth with the female scientist.

"Nothing." He chuckled lightly. "Nothing at all."


	3. 3: Being a Jerk is Not a Good Trait

Ugh, she was only a few minutes late, dammit!

She had spoken to Rodney this morning, told him she had thought she had scheduled her appointment with Carson for her next day off but, she had probably misread the calendar, and she would be there as soon as she could. She so happened to be late and showed up just as the project that she had been working on, that someone else had opted to try and work on (which was NOT her fault!), had blown up in their face, a fact that was royally pissing her off since… well… that was HER baby, and it just blew up (It was a small pop at least and not, like… a nuclear bomb) because some underqualified twit had decided to take it upon themselves to work on her project. After yanking the project from the confused girl, she took it to her table and began to assess the damage… all the while feeling glaring eyes at the top of her head.

And so, here we are now.

Kait growled annoyed across the lab table at the infuriating male who was shooting her an equally venomous look.

"Look, McKay, I was 5 minutes late for my shift, and it was because I was getting my bandages removed. Don't give me crap because you didn't factor that in when I told you this morning I was going to be getting it done." She glared, as he crossed his arms.

"I'm just saying, if you can't be on time how can I trust you with bigger projects?!"

"I WAS FIVE MINUTES LATE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 3 MONTHS! SUE ME!"

"KEEP YELLING AND YOU'LL BE BACK ON EARTH SO FAST IT'LL MAKE YOUR HEAD SPIN, GIRLIE!"

"OBNOXIOUS MAN!"

"OH YEAH? BETTER THAN BEING AN ANNOYING WOMAN WITH A COTTON BALL FOR HAIR!"

She let out a frustrated, angry yell and turned on her heels, ignoring him telling her to get back there and stomped out the door, biting back tears of fury, and headed…

Well…

Anywhere but the damnable labs!

* * *

Rodney, his face red, went back to work muttering about hormonal women and their inability to act like decent human beings when they're mad, as Radek walked in the labs, a look of confusion on his face.

"What in the world was that all about?"

"Just Nichols and what MAY be her last day here…" Rodney grumbled, as Radek blinked.

"But… what were you two talking about? Kait didn't have a shift today. I did."

Rodney looked up, confused. "It's Tuesday."

"No, Rodney… that was yesterday. Today is her day off…"

"But, even SHE said she had a shift today!"

"She was mistaken, her shift, again, was yesterday." Radek shook his head. "I was about to apologize about being late, since I've been sick since yesterday…"

Rodney just stared. Damn. But he'd spoken to her this morning and she had said that she was pretty sure it was her day to work… Even though she thought she scheduled getting her bandages removed for a day where… she was off… damn. Double damn.

"Er…"

"You should apologize, you were a jerk for no reason." Radek said, giving him a look, as Rodney crossed his arms stubbornly. "Rodney…"

Triple damn it…

* * *

Ugh, now where had that girl gone off to? Atlantis was big but it wasn't that big… Rodney's hands went into his pockets as he began to hear… music? Loud music. Semi-Angry music… and it was coming from her quarters.

Great. Well, this would take more than just a few muttered 'sorry's and an offer to convince someone to bring some of that disgusting fish and rice garbage she enjoyed from the next Earth trip.

He sighed, and turned the corner, spotting the music's origin… that laptop of hers.

Apparently she was going swimming? Either way, he knew he needed to get out of there… because she wasn't exactly dressed. He hid around the corner as soon as she started to remove her undergarments and let them fall to the floor as she pulled on a bathing suit.

'Holy crap.' Was his main thought process.

'I need to leave.'

'I really need to leave.'

'I should at LEAST make my presence known…'

He cleared his throat, and poked his head around the corner just in time to see her look up, her eyes wide as she pulled the top into place, whipping her head around and glancing at the intruder, in a near state of panic for a moment.

"Rodney!" she squeaked, as she quickly got up and he wordlessly turned around and walked off. She started swearing and pulled her t-shirt on over the swimwear, and took off after him, as he swiftly walked off.

'Damn it all to hell…'

"Rodney! Wait!"

He turned around quickly, averting his eyes from her. "I shouldn't have intruded, the door was open…I was coming to speak to you and…"

She nodded, crossing her arms on her chest and shifting from one foot to the other. "Sorry about that… I was on my way to the ocean to clear my head, and the door unlocked while I was changing, and with the music…" she finished, hands on her arms as she glanced up. "I'll lock it next time. If there'll be a next time."

"Er, that's what I was coming to talk to you about… I may have been… incorrect… when it comes to if you were supposed to be in the labs today… it's Wednesday…You know, your day off." He said, as he looked at her, her face blank for a moment. "I'm, that is to say, I… I'm sorry ok? Radek was late and that machine popped in… uh… what's her name's face, and… well…"

She nodded, sighing. "I was wrong to yell."

"Well… I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing…"

"You DID do the same thing, Rodney."

"Oh… right. Well you see."

She sighed and shifted slightly. "Well, since it's my day off, I'm going swimming with my cotton ball hair." She said, as he looked at her.

"I said that huh… I didn't mean it like that, it's a very attractive head of cotton ball hair… that's not to say it looks like a cotton ball…"

"Rodney. Just stop. Apology accepted." She chuckled.

She motioned for him to follow her, and they headed to her quarters, as he peeked his head in. "It's tidier than I would have thought." He said, as she made a face at him and turned off her music. "I suppose you were pretty angry, huh? The music seemed angry, that is to say."

She chuckled. "Actually it's just my playlist, haven't you ever listened to Joan Jett?" As he shook his head, she blinked at him surprised. "Seriously?"

"What?" he shrugged. "I wasn't big on 80s hair bands or whatever that sounded like."

She laughed. "Joan Jett and the Blackhearts was a band led by Joan Jett. She had some classics that most would consider to be great songs."

"That's a matter of opinion." He said, but his tone had relaxed. Suddenly, her head whipped around.

"Wait a minute… what all did you see?"

He blushed slightly, and refused to look her in the face. "Well...er… it WAS an accident, in my defense… but uh… You had clothes at least?" he said, as she turned a shade of crimson and nodded.

"Well… It's not much different than a bathing suit I suppose." She said, as she gathered her things to go swim. He watched her intently before speaking.

"So, um… swimming huh? I mean, you do know we don't have a full idea of what's in the ocean yet, aside from the Ancient databases, right?"

She grinned. "Of course. But, if I can swim in our oceans, then I'm sure this won't be much different."

"How do you figure that? There's creatures here that can eat you in one snuffle." He stated, as she nodded.

"Well, I mean, the Orca can do some pretty bad damage too, so can a Great White Shark, Giant Squid, or even the small dangers of the Irukandji Jellyfish. I still swim in the ocean back home. Everything has it's dangers, Rodney." She stated, grabbing a towel and her computer, and heading out the door. She looked at him. "You wanna come with me?"

* * *

"You wanna come with me."

That small question was a loaded one for him. Did he want to go blow his day, a day that he could be using to finish his mind link up project, on some time at the pier? For that matter, did he just want to sit there while she went for a swim while he looked like a bump on a log? He thought long and hard…

"For a bit, maybe… sure. Why not?" he said, getting a smile in return.

The two of them headed down the halls, to the piers, chit chatting. Arriving at the edge of the ocean, he sat as she pulled off the t-shirt and stretched her muscles a bit, setting her laptop on the shirt, and grinning as she took a step backwards.

"Wa-" he started, as she fell backwards into the waters, as he moved to the edge and watched for her, eyes wide. Man, that was a bigger drop than it looked…

She popped her head out of the water and grinned up at him.

"Have you lost your mind?!" he called to her. She snickered.

"That's nothing, you should have seen the dismount I did at my high school swim meet ages ago. That was a beauty. I actually slipped and cracked my head open on the diving board, but I patched it up and was able to compete!"

Well, that was a bit impressive, McKay had to admit. He watched as she floated on her back for a moment, and then with a sigh he called down to her.

"Can I borrow your laptop?"

She looked up and cocked her head to the side. "Sure, but there's nothing important on there, just music, some movies…" she shrugged, as he moved to grab the computer and prop himself up where he could see her but also could do something a little more up his alley.

* * *

About an hour later, she hoisted herself out of the water via the ladder to the side of the drop, to see him watching a movie on her laptop. She shook her head, and started drying off, as he looked up. "About time, I was wondering if you were eaten or something."

Shaking her head, she simply got the water from her hair with the towel and kept drying off.

"Oh, we have a mission, by the way."

Her ears perked at that. "We?"

"There's a planet asking for our assistance with a huge Ancient lab they found. Dr. Weir wants all of the Science and Research department personnel who is even remotely capable of working with Ancient technology to go. Obviously, that includes you."

She nodded, as he handed back the laptop. He stood, wincing as a pain shot through his back, and turned. "I'm heading back to work on something for this mission, and then I'm getting some rest, I suggest you do the same. We're going to have some … off-world company on this trip. Dealing with him always exhausts me." McKay said, as he gave a short wave and headed down the hall.

She grinned, a small smirk on her face.

Her first off-world mission!

****Author's Note!- Hey! Obviously, just a filler chapter, but the first off world mission for Kait begins next chapter! What wonders await in this Ancient lab? And isn't it nice to see certain scientists loosening up ever so slightly? I know I like it!**

**Thanks for the review eljama2014, I'm so glad you like it so far!**

**Reviews are always appreciated! Thanks!****


	4. 4: Too Much Pomp and Circumstance

'Holy crap holy crap holy crap'

Kait shifted from foot to foot eagerly, everyone else finishing their last minute prep. She had done that earlier, the specs of their mission to M4J-616 having intrigued her. The local people had found an Ancient lab of some kind in the catacombs under their city, and not only have they not touched the place, but no one has touched it in about 10,000 years. It's been left the same as it was the day the Ancients abandoned it, and the only reason they knew about now, was because of the fact that word had gotten around the Pegasus galaxy that the people of Atlantis were studying the Ancients and living in their city.

The thought of new, untouched Ancient technology was making her anxious to get there.

As they prepped to go, a flash of light signaled the beaming in of one last Ancient expert. Dr. Daniel Jackson, and with that, McKay let out an audible groan of annoyance. However, with that, they were ready.

"Ok, team, we have a go. Let's move out." Dr. Weir called out.

Kait sucked in a breath, and shifted her backpack. She watched as one by one they entered the event horizon… and as she was face to face with it, she sucked in her breath and stepped forward, the blue-silver of the stargate surrounding her as she felt the tell-tale jerk behind her belly button. It was always just like a page out of Harry Potter.

Her foot hit the ground outside of the stargate, her stride never breaking. She finished exiting, and shuddered as she glanced behind her. Her head turned, and she took in the sights. The area they were in was almost like an Oasis from a picture. They were in a green, lush area, but the nearby mountains were dusty looking desert.

A young man stood ready to greet them. Dr. Weir and himself began to speak, and, while Sheppard and McKay began to join them, she turned and began to check out some of the spires nearby. Long, Ancient towers lined the path to the stargate. She reached up to touch one, trying to brush the moss off the towers so she could decipher them. Even Daniel was trying to look over her shoulder to read what was on the towers.

"Do not touch the towers!"

Kait's hand fell and her eyes widened as a weapon was shoved into her face.

"Korvak, call off your soldier! You asked us here to help you!" Weir said to the man in front of her, as Kait's hands went up and she backed up.

"Nichols, what were you doing…?" McKay asked her, and she raised her hands up, shaking her head with wide eyes as the weapon in her face lit up.

"Nothing! I was brushing off the moss to read the Ancient writings! That's part of my job last time I checked!"

Korvak, as his name apparently was, stepped forward and looked at his soldier. "Put your weapon down." He said, then looked to Kait. "You do not need to touch these towers. They are very sacred to us, and no one is permitted to touch them." He gave her and the rest of them a stern look. "Not even your scientists."

As he went back to Weir and the others, she looked confusedly at the towers, as Carson came up behind her. "You alright love?"

She turned to him, nodding as they all began following Korvak to the city. "I'm fine, all they did was point a weapon at me."

* * *

As they arrived in the city, she couldn't help but openly stare. It was probably one of the most advanced things she'd seen, outside of Atlantis itself. The whole place was wall to wall buildings, almost like you'd imagine the New York of the year 3000. It was simply astounding.

They were led into the main building, and taken to a room with a long table.

"Please, sit. Your main members of your science team, and any others you deem necessary, should wait here. We have a room for any non-essential people to wait while we discuss the specifics of your visit here on Sokra." Korvak said as Dr. Weir nodded and sent the non-essential staff to the side room, while she, Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon, McKay, Nichols, Zelenka, and Daniel all waited in the room.

Sheppard began to pace impatiently, his face annoyed. "Something feels fishy here."

"You always say that, John." Elizabeth said, sitting and rubbing her head tiredly. "I had no idea about their custom pertaining to those towers, I should have asked more when we were first contacted."

"You had no idea about that, Elizabeth. You can't possibly feel guilty about something you had no idea about." Rodney said, sitting a few seats away from her. He glanced up at Kait. "Certain people should have known better than to touch things that didn't belong to them, though…"

"McKay, I was a second from doing the same thing."

"Yeah well no one ever claimed you were the brightest crayon in our little box, Daniel."

The two glared at each other, a verbal fight ensuing, as Elizabeth raised her hands up, as a way of putting a stop to the nonsense. "None of that, and I am serious. I will not have my science team acting like impetulant children." She said, shooting them a glare, as Kait, who had sat next to Zelenka and Beckett, tapped her feet under the table, as a robed man walked into the room. He was tall, with red robes and black hair streaked with white.

The man walked to the head of the table, sat, and tilted his head in welcome. "Atlantis, welcome." The man smiled warmly. "I am Governor Xerkis, it is a pleasure to meet you all. I apologize for the treatment at the stargate, it will not happen again."

Elizabeth smiled at him. "Governor Xerkis, we're honored to meet you. I can't tell you how anxious and excited we are to get to work. Can you tell us what you know about the Ancient technology here?"

"Certainly. You see, it is deep in the city's catacombs. It has not been accessed for thousands of years, we have no idea what it could possibly be, and we have heard rumors that you may be more capable of inspecting it and finding out what it contains than we are."

"Well, I'm sure that is a distinct possibility… I mean, that we're more than qualified to figure out what's in there." Rodney said, his eyes flashing a slightly 'more superior than you' look.

Elizabeth shot him a look, and continued speaking to the Governor. "We would be happy to assist your people with discovering what is in there."

"Wonderful! Now, you see, we can begin first thing in the morning! In the meantime, we have set up quarters for you and your people here, and there is to be a banquet and a ball tonight to honor you coming to help up. Your men can pass in the clothing they have, but we generally insist that the women adorn a gown."

Kait bit back a groan, but hid it well. Dresses were not her thing…

"So, Kait, are you as mortified as I am by the prospect of a formal ball with a bunch of strange people?"

She turned and grinned at Daniel. "You have NO idea." She whispered back. "Dancing I can do. I can even tolerate the pomp and circumstance. I HATE ballgowns."

He chuckled and nodded. "You ladies did get the short end of the stick, huh?"

"We generally do, for the most part." She said, absentmindedly noting the markings in the room.

"So, how have you been, Daniel?" she asked as he shrugged.

"Eh. Busy, as usual. SG-1 has been pretty swamped lately, this is my first mission away from them in a few months."

McKay, having finally finished with the Governor, came up to them and shot her a look. "Ok, so don't go poking around anything. Apparently these people are jumpy."

"Gee, you think McKay?" she said, rolling her eyes. "I didn't notice."

"Hey, the tone isn't needed. You were the one touching things like a child in a candy store."

Her arms crossed and she glared. "McKay… not now."

He shot her a look and just looked at her before turning and heading back to the others, his look clearly said to behave.

"Ooooh, if he keeps treating me like a child, I swear to all that's holy…" she kicked her foot on the ground and glared daggers at his back.

Daniel nodded next to her. "Yeah, get used to that. That's pretty typical McKay behavior."

She glared at McKay's back. "Well, it's obnoxious as hell."

"Yeah, it is. Out of curiosity, are you going to go to this banquet with anyone? Generally speaking, it's better for women to come as the guest of someone to things like these, from what I understand, and- you know. We do make a good pair."

She shrugged. "Considering I've known about it all of 10 minutes, I hadn't thought about it yet. And that's a bit… no a lot… sexist." She said.

"Well, in my experience from what I've seen of civilizations similar to these, they seem to work similar to Shakespearean culture. It's nothing personal, you know that Kait." He put his hands up in a surrendering motion.

"No, you're fine… Maybe it'll be fun, even though I had no intention of doing anything like this." She said, as the Governor came up to her and smiled.

"You must be the doctor that my men pulled their weapons on today. You have my apologies. Please, feel free to use all of our facilities, and the dressmaker's shop, as a way of apology." He said, as she looked at him in surprise.

"Oh, well… thank you. I suppose that'll be… er… great." She said, trying her best to look enthusiastic, even though she was aching to crawl in a hole and bury herself at this point.

"Please, you, Dr. Weir, and any other females of your group who will be in attendance tonight, follow Reyla to the dressmaker's, then she shall take you wherever else you need to go." He said, walking back to Sheppard as a younger lady in a rather extravagant dress walked up and smiled.

"Please… this way." She smiled, motioning for the women to follow her. Teyla shook her head.

"I'm going to stay behind tonight and guard our equipment. These kinds of…functions… are not really my thing, as it were."

As the other two females from the other room in their group came up to join them, Teyla took a seat. Kait stole a look at Teyla and mouthed 'Save me…' to her, making Teyla smile and give them all a little wave as they were led out.

* * *

"OW! Watch that needle!" she yelped, as the others simply sat back. "Why are they done already?"

"Their dresses did not need the modifications in the… er… top and waist… as yours did."

She blushed crimson but quieted after that. It was not the first time, nor would it be the last time, that she had been foiled by her boobs…

Dr. Weir's dress had been a simple black, sleeved gown. One of the other ones had a blue dress, and the second scientist had a pale pink that went with her blond hair. And then, there was her dress. She had insisted it have a collar if nothing else, and some semblance of a sleeve. The dress that the maker had was a satiny lilac, almost like a business jacket vest or something similar with a collar in the top, and the bottom ruffled on the sides, and laid straight down the front. And it had needed some taking in at the waist, since the thing was built for bigger girls. Her top fit that bill, her waist did not. Initially, it had looked like a bag on her, but she had slightly warmed up to it with each adjustment.

She still hated dresses… but this was tolerable.

* * *

"I really do not want to go to this thing…" she called to Daniel, who was waiting at the door of the rather large home they had all been put in. The others had left ages ago. She had… honestly… not wanted to leave.

"Well we don't really have a choice, Teyla is keeping guard of the equipment, so unless you want to join her…"

"Not really…" she sighed, as she straightened her dress and made sure the annoying heels she had been provided with were on firmly. She took one last glance in the mirror, making sure the sleek bun her hair had been pulled into (painfully, I may add) was staying into place. And with a deep breath, she left the room.

Daniel let out a whistle. "Well, don't you clean up nicely?" he said, grinning a bit as she swatted him.

"Let's get this over with." She said, as he took her hand and tucked it into his arm, leading her down the short path to the palace and the ballroom.

As they stepped in, she had to cover her eyes to block out the influx of light. The place was lit brighter than the Christmas Tree in Times Square… People were giving her looks, though. Not the best ones she'd ever received either.

"Hey, everyone else is wearing gloves." Daniel noted.

Oh, right… the gloves. She had thought they were optional. She couldn't really do anything of use with gloves on, she liked the feel of bare hands.

"I didn't think I needed them." She said honestly. He chuckled, and led her to the table where the rest of them were sitting, in their simple grey and color-streaked uniforms.

As they sat, Sheppard leaned forward. "Not too bad, Nichols." He whispered. "Then again, all of our ladies seem to look great tonight." He said, as she rolled her eyes.

"Seriously Sheppard? I'm glad you seem to be enjoying this." She said, as Daniel grinned.

Rodney simply blinked. No one had told him they were taking dates! He had thought this was a formality! And what was up with that dress? It looked 100% different from every other person in the place. Hell, the top looked like it could be work clothes. If it wasn't made of some kind of shiny fabric that he knew had a name but didn't care to remember right now, he would swear that it was made for rolling in the dirt on the top.

And what was with Jackson taking Nichols to this thing? Now not only were the military kirking their women, but the scientists that worked WITH the US military on a more formal basis were doing it too!

He grumbled under his breath, nursing his drink.

Daniel noted the people dancing. "Shall we, Nichols?" he asked, offering her a hand.

She blushed lightly (earning another quiet grumble from Rodney) and nodded, allowing Daniel to lead her to the floor and begin leading her in a dance similar to the other dancers.

Beckett, noting the annoyance on Rodney's face, elbowed him. "What's eating you?"

Rodney didn't even wait to start in. "It's not even fair. Did you know we were supposed to escort the women?"

"Well, it's pretty customary Rodney…"

"Since when?!"

"Since… your first grade school dance, Rodney. I know you've asked girls to dances before… besides, I thought you were thinking this whole thing was silly, so why does it bother you so much?"

Rodney's eyes grew annoyed, and they flitted up to Nichols, who's eyes had glanced in his general direction before locking on his for a moment.

Carson noted the interaction… and he looked at Rodney. "How long have you been nursing a soft spot for the lass?"

Rodney's eyes widened and looked at Carson. "I'm not! Who said I was?! Whoever it was is a filthy liar, they have no proof, and to be logical about it, that makes no sense." He pithered on and on, making Carson roll his eyes.

'Aye, he does. Question is, why not say something?'

With an annoyed grunt, Rodney got up and, not giving a good god damn about being polite, walked right out for a walk.

* * *

Kait had managed to excuse herself away from Daniel after about an hour, and after complaining of a fully imaginary headache, she had snuck off to her room in that large, and very disconcerting house. As she walked in, closing the door behind her, she let her hair fall down and hang loose around her face. She stretched, and felt the relief in her feet as she removed the heels, kicking them to the side.

As she removed her second shoe, the door opened behind her, and, well…

Rodney hadn't meant to be out walking for so long, to be fair. He'd meant to go right back to the house, but his mind had become preoccupied. It wasn't a thought he much liked. Honestly, he wanted to just worry about all of this after they finished what they were doing in this city, but, well…

Damn Carson and his inability to mind his own business.

Hence, why he apparently was walking in the door directly after Kait.

Another thing he wasn't good at…

"Hey… have a good time with Daniel?" he asked, his annoyance at the fact that Daniel had been her escort seeping into his words.

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. "I don't like big ceremonies. All that was, was a show of power if you ask me… So… well… I lied and told them I wasn't feeling well."

He looked at her in surprise, but nodded. He had thought all women liked these huge parties and dancing.

"Well… I'm tired…so…"

"Wait."

One word had shut down function to her lower extremities and made her freeze in place. He walked up, and… well…

He was debating on what to say.

"Get some rest… we're going to need it tomorrow." He said, as she nodded and turned, walking off.

As she went to her rooms, the door clicking shut behind her, he shook his head.

'Well… I sure blew that in my typical McKay fashion. Way to go, loser.'

Sighing, not sure what he was thinking, he headed to his own rooms.

* * *

****Author's Note: Well, they're getting there! Slowly but surely. I figured, by the way, that a good 3 month time skip would A- give them time to now know each other and actually have hidden feelings, and B- give HER time to get settled and actually be considered for a bigger mission. As always, reviews are welcome! Hope you enjoy!**

**Also: I have edited this chapter to reflect a bit on a former tryst between Daniel and Kait, as per a one shot named The One that Got Away****


	5. 5: Some Things are Better Left Alone

****AUTHOR'S NOTE!- I'm sorry it took so long to get another chapter up! It's finals time for my classes so I've been swamped with homework! But, here it is. It's a bit shorter than usual but next chapter I'll make up for it. ^_~ Enjoy****

* * *

Dusting off the walls of the catacombs, Kait brushed some of the dirt from her face and let out grunt as she hoisted herself higher, her knees covered in the sludge of the dirty water in the area.

"They could have warned us that the entrance was in a damn sewer…" Rodney grunted, as Daniel, who normally was more laid back, emphatically agreed.

"If one more creature gets in my shoe…" Kait growled, pushing her hair out of her face and reading the Ancient text on the walls.

Over the radio, Zelenka popped in. "Rodney, we think that we've just about got the power running up here, are you all ready down there?"

"Well we'd like to not be ankles deep in sludge, Radek, so you tell me." Rodney said with a roll of his eyes, as Zelenka began swearing in Czech and got off the radio. "Swear to god, sometimes he's thicker than a stack of bricks."

Looking up, Kait reached up and grabbed the top of the ridge, and pulled herself up slowly… and reached forward, as she felt the door override. "Radek…" she panted, holding herself up. "I found the override, but I need power… I'm not going to be able to hold myself up here forever."

"Hold yourself up where?"

"The override is on a ledge." She said, propping herself on her elbows for a moment. After a moment, the lights in the catacombs flickered, then held steady.

"Go on and try it now."

She reached forward and hit the button, as a loud groan of the machinery started up. She slipped, and fell on her backside into the water, gasping as the cold water hit her chest and up her arms, and soaked her pants. She started swearing colorfully, as the water finally drained and the door opened, flowing down the hall and down into a drain. Daniel and Rodney helped her up, as she shook some of the filthy water from her hands and hair.

"You alright?" Daniel asked her, as she nodded.

"Oh I'm f&amp;$%#%g peachy." she said, as she got a look down the hall. The floor was wet, but it was opened up, and in front of them, down the long hall, was a room. Rodney turned to Daniel. "Go up with Radek, make sure he's good, then get down here and join us. Grab Nichols something dry from … er… that girl with the red hair while you're up there." He said, as Daniel nodded and ran up and out of the catacombs.

Rodney and Kait looked down the hall. "Shall we?" she asked, biting back the lump in her throat that came from worry.

They headed down the long hall, as lights began to all fully activate, reacting to Kait's natural and Rodney's gene-therapy ATA genes. They stepped into the labs and the panels began to activate, turning on while displays powered up and began to show notes and text. They both began reading the control panels, studying the information that was coming on the screens.

"Rodney, are you reading what I'm reading?"

"Yeah… this was a bio-weapons lab." He said, his eyebrows together in concentration. "They were in the middle of a project when the Ancients left."

Kait nodded, her eyes darting across the information on the displays. She blinked after a moment, then re-read the information… and called Rodney over.

"Rodney… look at this."

Rodney walked forward, and read her screen. "That can't be right. It's saying the last known entry in here was… a few years ago." He got quiet. "We were lied to."

She nodded. "So it seems."

As she went to check another display, she sucked in breath and backed up.

"Rodney!"

At the panic in her voice, he rushed around the corner, and came face to face with the same body that Kait had just seen. "Holy crap!" he backed up, as she began to look at the body.

"He wasn't attacked, no signs of a struggle at all…" she said, biting her lip to avoid the rush of nausea. She was shocked by the lack of smell, then again, there was venting in the place and all it had reminded her of was mold. "Well, at least no obvious ones…"

"I think I figured out why… look at this." He said, a hint of panic in his voice. She got up and rushed over, taking a look at the screen.

"There was an exposure… right before the Ancients left. Any info of the virus's antibodies has been wiped… but the last readings showed it was spread by touch… and… it was last scanned… all over the lab."

"Rodney? Kait? We're coming down now-"

"NO!" she shouted, rushing to the door and hitting the red button next to it. The doors sealed, and Rodney stared at her with wide eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! We've got to get out of here!"

"No, listen! Ignore your panic and listen. We have to stay…and send the info to Carson. He's going to have to work on this, because you know this is not our thing. Otherwise we'll all be exposed." She turned on her earpiece. "Nichols and McKay to Zelenka."

"Come in McKay, Nichols."

McKay sucked in a breath, and turned on his earpiece. "Listen Radek, we've been exposed to some kind of bio-weapon. Kait locked the doors to keep you guys from being exposed too, apparently it's currently only in this room and spread by direct contact, according to scans. We have a chance of stopping it in its tracks, but we can't leave this room. Carson needs to get to work with all the data, see if he can come up with an inoculation or something to keep anyone else from getting exposed, and an antidote. Find out what this virus does and stop it." Rodney said quickly, as Radek gave a note of affirmation and signed off.

"So… now what?" Kait asked.

"Let's hide… Mister meal worm food over there… and then send this data to Carson… and then we'll read it all ourselves and figure out what the hell is going on."

* * *

Carson and Elizabeth were on the way to the work site when the message had hit them on the radios. The lab was a biological one, and their people were trapped in there with that virus… They simply looked at each other before taking off for the lab site.

As they arrived, Carson quickly took the computer tablet from Radek, and began to go through the data. "I'll need to get all of this to Atlantis, I can't do anything of any use here..." he said, as Elizabeth nodded.

"Understood, Carson, head to the stargate. Contact the Daedalus, and get them here as soon as possible, maybe you can do some of your work on their ship."

He nodded, as Daniel looked to Elizabeth. "Let's go look at those towers… I don't care what they said, there's something there they don't want us to see." he said, as she nodded.

"Right, Zelenka, you keep the power on for them. Sheppard and his team will be here soon, I radioed them about the situation , they'll keep the villagers out of here until we figure out what's going on."

Zelenka nodded, and Elizabeth left with the others, heading up to the stargate, and those towers.

As soon as they got there, Daniel headed to the first one, and began to wipe off the moss. His face turned to a scowl, as he did the same to the next one… and the one after that… as Carson dialed the stargate.

"Hurry back on the Daedalus, Carson. We want them out of there as soon as possible." She said, as he nodded and rushed through the event horizon.

"Elizabeth, look at this… these markings…" Daniel called to her, as she walked beside him.

"What have you found, Daniel?"

"Look at this. Read it."

Scanning the tower's markings, she scowled. "It's a warning..."

"Exactly. I think they knew exactly what was in there, and didn't want us to know about it. That's why they got so jumpy when Kait touched these towers to read them. You know Rodney and Kait wouldn't have gone near the place if they knew it was a bioweapons lab… at least not without a LOT of timely scanning."

Elizabeth's mouth went into a straight, angry line, and she turned on her heels. "I think we need to go speak to the Governor.

* * *

Rodney studied the screens intently. He could swear he was already feeling the effects of this virus, which he was assuming was a sore throat, maybe dizziness, shaking of the limbs. He and Kait were spending every moment going over the screens, but with the door shut, the temperature was dropping, and it had already gotten cold. His eyes darted to Kait, who was shivering in her wet clothes.

"You know… you could always see if there's any lab coats or something." He said casually to her, as she shook her head.

"No, we don't know what germs and viruses are still alive on these items. I'm not risking double exposure." She shivered, and instead, shed the jacket she had been clinging desperately to for some residual warmth, hoping it would dry enough to keep her warm. Her blue t-shirt underneath, she kept working, tucking some errant hairs behind her ear.

"Here, just take my coat." Rodney offered, as she shook her head.

"No. You can keep working if something happens to me. You have a better chance of getting us out of here. You need it more than I do." She said, as he shot her a look, but continued to work.

As they worked, he came up to some of the specs of the virus… It seemed to be a slow moving thing…

"Hey, come look at this." He said, having her come closer to look at the screen. She peered at the display in front of her now, and cocked her head to the side.

"Interesting."

"What is?"

"Well, it's the virus's inner workings. I mean, I'm sure it's very interesting… to Carson. You know… the medical expert." She said before walking off and leaning against the far wall. "To be honest I've felt like I was reading calculus and physics for the first time ever since I walked in the room. It looks like freaking Klingon to me at this point, Rodney. I don't know." She rubbed her eyes tiredly, "I just want to sleep right now, to be honest…" she said, plopping tiredly into a seat.

* * *

"YOU LIED TO MY PEOPLE!"

"Dr Weir, please. Let me explain…"

"My people could DIE, so yes, you need to explain NOW!"

The Governor raised his hands up at his guards, signaling them to back down. "I understand your anger… I could not risk my people down there. We lost a brilliant scientist many a year ago, and sealed the building. But your people are more advanced than mine, I thought maybe, since you live in the City of the Ancients and carry their blessing, that perhaps you would be granted the knowledge, and share with us."

She stared at him. "The blessing of the Ancients?"

"Yes, since you live in their city, they must have given you permission and blessed you, the Tau'ri…" he noted her blank expression and his eyes knotted in confusion. "Do you mean to say you…"

"We have only met a few Ancients, and we never got their blessing. We are explorers."

He stared in shock. "To dwell in the City of the Ancients without their blessing is sacrilege!"

She gave him a defiant look. "Well, we've lived there for over a year now with no consequences."

"What of the Wraith?" he said, as she averted her eyes.

"Well, that was not all on us." That was true enough, to an extent…

As they were about to continue the verbal exchange, a voice cracked onto the radio in Weir's ear. "Just a minute, Governor…" she said, as she responded to the radio. "Go ahead."

"Beckett here… Elizabeth we have a serious problem."

She blanched… "I'm on my way…"

* * *

"Would you STOP that incessant humming?" Rodney shouted at her, as she stopped drumming her hands on the panel in front of her and shot him a look.

"So, are you going to make me?"

"I could… you KNOW I could."

She scoffed at him. "Please. You have a better chance of pinning a house fly."

As they were about to continue, their radios clicked to life. "Rodney? Kait?"

"Oh thank god, Carson! You've found an antidote?" Rodney said.

"No, Rodney… and we have a problem. The virus, from what I've deciphered so far, targets the brain… it begins with slowly removing inhibitions, the ability to stop yourself from doing an annoying habit, or… ahem… other inhibitions. Actually the inhibitions that are there to stop us as humans from jumping on the next attractive mate of the opposite sex are specifically targeted…"

"Translate, Carson." Kait said, shooting Rodney a nervous glance.

"Kait, it means that you very soon may not be able to restrain yourself from certain… activities… but you need to try. If you raise your adrenaline and other hormones related to that activity, you'll set off the next stage of the virus, organ failure. And there's no guarantee as to the order they'll start shutting down. This virus was made to kill in 2 days or so…"

"And we've been in here…"

"6 hours…" Kait finished for Rodney, slumping against the wall.

Rodney knelt in front of her, as he stared at her. "Carson, Nichols has been showing some of those signs…"

"Probably because she was exposed to the dead body before you were. She got the initial dose. All it takes is that first contact… and since she got wet, from what I hear, her immune system may have already been somewhat compromised."

He put a hand on her shoulder, as she stared down.

"Carson… you need to hurry."

"I know, Rodney… I'm doing my best here."

"No, Carson, you really need to hurry…" Rodney said, as his brain finished that line for him. 'Because I don't know how long I can be a gentleman if my inhibitions are taken from me…'


	6. 6: Things are not what they Appear

Annoyed, angry, and sweating buckets, Kait threw the piece of Ancient tech that did fuck all as far as she could tell across the room, and let out a yell of frustration.

"This is ridiculous, it's hot, and it's been 10 hours. I'm hungry, tired, and I just want to hit something!"

"You think I feel any better? Jeeze, Kait, you're not alone in here you know!"

By this point, Kait's heavy military-grade pants were tossed to the side, comfort winning over modesty. Once the virus had gone past the fever stage, the heat radiating from the once dormant machines began making the lab almost unbearable for them. To justify this course of action, she kept telling herself that it was no different than a bathing suit. Not that she cared at this point… the virus in her system was doing its job.

Rodney had finally removed his jacket, but nothing else. Yet. He had to admit, it was getting rather balmy in the small laboratory.

"Rodney, I don't care if I'm alone or not. All I care about is…I… I don't know." She said, blinking. "What were we arguing about?"

He sighed, and sat next to her, her confusion making his heart melt. He leaned her against him and radioed to Carson.

"Carson… how's it going?"

"We're getting close, Rodney, very close. A few more hours, tops, and we'll have something." He said, sounding far more hopeful than he had for a while now. Rodney turned to Kait and cupped her face, making her look at him.

"You hear that? We're going to be fine." He said, as she nodded.

* * *

Elizabeth sat at the head of SG:Command, briefing General Hammond on the situation with Dr. Jackson's help.

"We were lied to, General Hammond… we were told that there had been no activity and that it was a suspected science lab. It was in fact a known bio-weapons lab with viruses capable of killing within a 3 day timeframe. Two of my scientists are trapped down there right now… Dr. Jackson was almost included among them."

"That's right, sir. I mean they completely told us false information in order to get us to do their dirty work."

"I see. What is the status of Doctors McKay and Nichols?"

"Right now, they're stable. I've had to borrow some of your own medical officers to help Dr. Beckett to engineer an antivirus in time, but so far, it looks like we're going to make it." Elizabeth said as Hammond nodded.

"Understood. If you don't mind, Dr. Weir, I would like to send SG-1 to this planet, Sokra, I believe you said it was called. If nothing else, they can provide some muscle while you determine what needs to be done with the laboratory. Your notes indicate that they do not plan to simply give up the lab once McKay and Nichols are out?"

"No, sir, they plan to get them out, dead or alive, and use any antiviral we come up with to inoculate themselves and use the weaponry… I'm pretty sure the Ancients didn't intend these weapons for anything more than Wraith or potentially Replicator victims…allowing these people to use these weapons on other humans is just immoral on our part." Daniel said, as Hammond nodded.

"I see… then we need to decide how we're going to go about doing this." He said.

Elizabeth sighed. She hadn't wanted to involve the military any more than was necessary, but things on Sokra were not going well, and she needed to guarantee that she could get her people out at least.

Hammond motioned to the side, as a young woman with dark red hair walked in, and sat in the room. "Dr. Weir, Dr. Jackson, this is Dr. Bethany Vale, she's a biologist and geneticist, and has been studying Goa'uld genetics and their genetic memory for a few months now. She may be able to help Dr. Beckett with picking apart the virus. I've already provided her with the information we have, and she has a few ideas."

"Thank you General. I've broken the virus down to its base proteins thanks to some Goa'uld tech we're managed to acquire. This virus is unlike anything I've seen before… it spreads with a rate similar to Measles or Ebola… it's very, very highly communicable. It seems to block neural synapses, and cause what looks like neural degradation. In all actuality, the brain is fine, simply being coated cell by cell with this virus. It doesn't have the hormonal compound needed to start blocking and duplicating en-masse until after an extreme activity… it needs adrenaline. It has to be an activity that taxes our bodies, something many people would not just up and do, so to counter that this virus initially targets the neural center that controls our inhibitions."

"So… this is a smart virus?" Daniel asked, looking confused. "Viruses can be like that?"

"Of course. Technically, they are living creatures. They just have no brain. Well, these viral cells seem to have a genetic memory similar to the Goa'uld. They are given their instructions, and duplicate rapidly. Every new virus cell has this same set of instructions. And they were, as far as I can see, meant for the Wraith. In the Wraith, it would act more violently, so I think that's the only thing that has saved your science officers, Dr. Weir."

"But, they found a victim that died in the labs down there…" Elizabeth said, as Beth gave her a confused glance.

"I don't see how, they would have had hours before showing symptoms, even if the virus is mutated… could these people be genetically similar to the Wraith?"

Daniel sat back in thought for a moment… the writings on the pillars… a warning. The writing in the lab… another warning… all of it screaming to stay out, but what if… what if the lab wasn't the danger. What if…

"Elizabeth… we need to go to Atlantis, now…"

"I'm coming with you, I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt if these people are related to the Wraith or not, genetically." Beth said, as Elizabeth nodded.

"Let's go then."

* * *

Kait shifted in her seat. "Rodney?"

"What?" he glanced up from his seat at a console, sweat dripping from his forehead.

She looked down at her feet. "Tell my brother I'm sorry that I won't be there for any of the important events he's going to have…"

"No. I'm not doing that Kait. We're going to be fine."

"Stop saying that! You don't know if we're going to be fine or not!" she growled, standing up and marching over to him. "You're GUESSING, and it's annoying! STOP acting like you know it all! Just sto—mmph!"

She was rudely interrupted by him grabbing her shirt and pulling her down to him, greedily pushing his lips to hers. As she pulled back, she looked at him, as he focused his eyes on hers.

"We can't." he said, as she started pulling at his t-shirt. "We'd both be dead in hours… we can't. God knows I want to but…"

She cut him off, and began to untuck his shirt and run her hands on his chest. "We're both at that stage where we're not going to care, and you know it. It doesn't matter anymore… we do this, we have a few hours less. And I'd rather go out being with someone I care about rather than sitting in a corner crossing my legs and purposefully not looking at you…"

As she moved her hand behind his head, she pulled herself down to him in a bruising kiss. His hands moved up her shirt and pulled it off, revealing her emerald green bra. She panted, her hands gripping his shirt before tugging it up and over his head. She pressed herself to him as his hands moved to her bra and unhooked it. Throwing the garment to the side, he leaned her back and laid her on the floor, kicking off his pants in the process.

"You still sure about this-" he started, as she pulled him down to her and, in a matter of moments, spun his world upside down…

* * *

"Sir, we just need some assistance on Atlantis… do you mind sending one or two of your scientists with us?" Daniel asked the Chancellor, who nodded. 'Of course he doesn't mind, he thinks we're helping him… ' Daniel thought to himself.

"However we may be of assistance."

"There's a small thing, we need a blood sample before we can let your men in the city." Beth said, as he raised his eyebrow at her.

"Why?"

"To check for viral exposure. It's just a safety precaution." She said, as he nodded.

"Very well. You may draw what you need."

Minutes later, they were drawing blood from two men and back to Atlantis for an analysis. The Ancient tech took mere minutes, but it left Beth flabbergasted.

"This… this can't be right."

Daniel looked up from the screen he was looking at. "What is it?"

"The DNA… genetically, it's showing incredible similarities to the Wraith… like, a 67% similarity at the genetic level. Almost as if they were the next step in the Wraith evolutionary chain… but, there's also something that is distinctly Goa'uld… These look like a genetic crossbreed… like Goa'uld took over an evolved Wraith, merged a fraction of its DNA, and then bred… and boom, you get these people…"

"So they're definitely not human." Daniel said, as she shook her head.

"No, I would say not. In fact, I would say that this was what the virus was created for… that place was probably a camp, or prison, to keep these genetic anomalies and come up with a weapon against them… there could be millions more too, because you can't tell the difference until you get to the genetic level. They are essentially the perfect wolf-in-sheep's-clothing scenario…"

Daniel swore lightly and grabbed his radio. "Sam? Yeah, we have an answer all right, but you're really not going to like it… We're going to need a Wraith weapon. Goa'uld-weakening weapons would help too. Only thing I can tell you is that these things are the X-Men of the 'Things that want to eat humans' gene pool." He said, and nodded at her response. "Sure. That's great! Yeah, I'll do that."

He looked to Beth. "We have to head back. Dr. Beckett thinks he's come up with a cure, but he needs to do some testing on it to be sure. We'll need to be there when our people come out."

She followed behind him as he began to walk. "Will they be ok?"

"Well, as long as they haven't done anything that would release their adrenaline, they should be fine."

* * *

A hand popped up from behind the console, pulling themselves up. Rodney pulled Kait up, as her tired body went semi limp from exertion.

"I have to admit… I didn't think you had THAT in you."

"Hey! I resent that." Rodney grumbled, as she snickered.

"It's kind of nice… my head feels clear for a moment. Like I was before all of this." She said, leaning her head back against his chest.

"Me too, actually. It's strange, I thought we'd get worse if we did anything to overexert ourselves."

"I know. I'm guessing it's the proverbial calm before the storm, but still. If I'm going out, I want it to be like this."

They sat quietly for a few minutes before the light beep of the radio was heard. "Oh, hell, Carson must have been trying to get in touch with us." Rodney said, putting the earpiece in and turning it on. "Mckay here."

"The hell have you been, Rodney? I've been trying to get in touch with you for over an hour now!"

"Yeah, about that… so, how long do we have?"

"That's what I've been trying to call about, I think I have a cure. I'm running final tests. I do have a vaccine, and that is being used to inoculate a team to come down, but until I can give you a cure I'm not ok with opening those doors. But it's almost done. Why?"

"Well. Hypothetically speaking, say we overexerted ourselves somewhat. How long would we have left?"

"Rodney…"

"To be fair, I didn't start it."

"He did, Carson, don't let him fo-"

Rodney's head whipped over to the sound of Kait's body hitting the floor and going into violent convulsions. "Kait! Carson, she's having a seizure! What do I do? Do I grab her tongue, shove a stick in her mouth…"

"Don't do ANY of those things! Put something soft under her head, clothing, something like that. Don't hold her down or try and stop her movements. Don't put anything in her mouth or try and pry her mouth open. Turn her to the side to help keep her airway clear. Let it run its course and keep me filled in…"

Rodney quickly grabbed a shirt, his, to be exact, and put it under her head. He rolled her to the side and rubbed her back. "Come on, Kait, get through this… Carson, how long before you can get to us?"

"I was going to try and test this, but I don't think I have a choice now… you would have only had a bit more time resisting, anyhow… we're going to finish inoculating a team and be there in about 15 minutes."

The tremors stopped, and Rodney pulled her into his lap, as he pulled his shirt back on. "They'll be here soon." He said, as he pushed her hair off her forehead. He sucked in air at how hot to the touch she was… Fever.

"C'mon, Carson…" he muttered, picking her jacket off the floor and wrapping around her shoulders. He could feel his own mind slipping away faster, he wasn't sure how much longer he could resist the virus's effects on the mind.

* * *

"Chancellor, we need to have a word with you."

The Chancellor turned around, smiling at Colonel O'Neill. "Yes?"

"Yeah, I've got a bone to pick with you. You lied to my people, and you're not who you claim to be. So, before I give Teal'c here permission to blast you to kingdom come… what the hell are you and what do you want with us?

"I do not understand what you mean…"

"Don't give me that, we know you're not human like you've pretended to be." O'Neill said, glaring.

"I tested your men… both of them were a hybrid of Wraith and Goa'uld…What are you?" Beth said.

The Chancellor sneered. "I had hoped it wouldn't come to this. You're very correct, girl. I am not human. My people were once Goa'uld… until we were captured by Ancients. We were imprisoned here and our DNA was spliced with creatures they called the Wraith. They hoped to make them more docile by using our base DNA coding, which was once submissive, and blend it with these… ravenous… Wraith. But the Wraith were like animals, and our DNA mixed with theirs made younglings that possessed the Goa'uld genetic memory, with all of the weaknesses and strength of the Wraith. We no longer needed bodies. We had all of our abilities and no need to go from host to host. They did us a favor! We are those younglings, we have lived for centuries! We hibernate and feed as the Wraith do to stay young, but we can also subsist on human food. We discovered unique traits that did not show up until our DNA was spliced, such as the ability to appear human."

Beth gripped her weapon, as Daniel spoke. "So the virus… it was meant for you?"

"Yes, the Ancients knew they had made us too powerful, that we could overtake them… so they sought a way to humanely euthanize us. They did not expect us to discover their plan, and try to kill them. They locked the laboratory up and fled. Since we share so many traits with humans, we believed that there was definitely a way to use the virus against you sniveling meat sacks."

Daniel grabbed his gun, and pointed it at the Chancellor. "So, again… who are you?"

He sneered. "My consciousness before being in this body was known as Ozymandias. My companion, the woman you see me with, she is known as Ankhesenamon. Both of our Goa'uld consciousnesses were placed into these bodies by our original Goa'uld bodies. For a time, we hosted ourselves. But that does not matter. The end point is simple. You will do as we ask. If not… we have the ability now to kill all of you, not with a weapon, or a bang… but a simple whimper."

Samantha, glaring, held her weapon up. "That's not going to happen."

"Then I'm afraid it's time for you to be dealt with." He clapped, as his guards surrounded them. "We'll get the answers we need, eventually. Take them to the prison."

* * *

"Get down here, Medical team one, you need to give them the first round of the antiviral before you give the secondary part of it. Remember, if you get the order wrong they'll be killed… Rodney! I need to to tell me something simple that you would remember. Ok?" Carson knelt next to Rodney, who was holding onto Kait still as if he thought she would vanish.

"Pi… Pi is 3.14…uh… Carson… I know this, I've known it since grade school…My sister's name… is…" his brows knotted in frustration. "Kait's last name is… Michaels… Katherine Michaels…"

"Ok Rodney, that's enough. This should start counteracting the virus. I needed to know how much it's done to make sure it's reversing. Kait should… she should start coming out of it very soon, alright? You need to hand her over to us, now."

"No. I have to protect… I don't know… why…"

"You were keeping her safe for us. We took longer than we had hoped getting back to you. But we have a situation, and we need to get back to the gate, now… we can't do that until you let her go so we can carry her out."

"Right… You're Carson. You're going to help…" he said, as he let her go and the team placed her on a stretcher, giving her the second shot and wheeling her up.

"Indeed, Rodney. Let's get you to the medical bay on Atlantis." Carson said. "Then we have to figure out a way to get to SG-1… we lost contact with them as we got these doors open. They were making sure we could get to you without interference. I'll explain more when you'll understand better, though… ok? I need a gurney, here! Rodney, I want you to get on the gurney. It's time to go home."

****Author's Note: I'm sorry it's taking longer than I would like between chapters, I've had a very busy finals schedule. It should be calming down soon though! Reviews are very appreciated! ****


	7. 7: Not all Homecomings are Pleasant

****Author's Note: First off, SUMMER BREAK IS HERE! Which means I'll be writing more! So, expect more updates! Second, you will possibly notice the lack of song lyrics in this chapter. I will be removing all song lyrics from previous chapters. Now if you're reading this after the fact: Ignore it! :) Enjoy, please review! ****

* * *

Beth kicked a pebble. Her first mission with SG-1, and where'd she end up? Locked in prison… No wonder these people were called the Suicide Squad around the SG-C… And they didn't even care, they were just lounging around like this was just another Tuesday afternoon tea to them.

She sighed, looking at O'Neill. "Please tell me you have some kind of a plan… any of you?"

He shrugged. "Eh. Not really. Things generally seem to work themselves out in matters like these."

She groaned and shoved her head into her hands. "Oh that's just great…"

Sam turned to look at Beth. "There's honestly nothing we can do right now. We've been captured before, trust me, when the moment presents itself, we'll get out of this."

Beth's head tilted up to the ceiling. No one was this cocky… no one. Teal'c was just sitting in a corner, Daniel was the only one who even looked remotely concerned, and he wasn't even panicked at all.

These people were nuts.

* * *

Kait woke up with a gasp, sitting straight up in the bed and gagging at the tubes in her throat. Retching, she pulled at them, as Carson rushed over.

"Stop, lass, I'll have these out as soon as I can, but you're going to tear your throat up doing that!" he said, as she nodded, going still so he could gently ease the tubes from her throat. She coughed and sputtered as they were finally removed fully, and began scanning the room.

"What happened? How did I get back here… and why am I not dead?"

Carson made her sit back, and began checking her vitals. "You guys were very close to not coming home, love. A few more minutes and you would have been too far gone…Rodney was close behind you."

Her eyes flew open and she began looking around. "Rodney! Is he ok?"

"He's fine. We got both of you back to Atlantis after giving you the antiviral, but unfortunately we didn't have time to lock up the laboratory. The Chancellor took SG-1 and a doctor who was accompanying them prisoner. The military is working on a rescue mission to get them back, but we're not sure how long they have."

As Carson moved away from the bed, she swung her legs off and went to stand, before leaning heavily on the bed once more. Carson grabbed her arm, but she shrugged him off. She said one word.

"Where."

Carson gave her a stern look, but pointed. "He was in better shape than you, so he's being monitored in his quarters."

Shakily at first, she hoisted herself up and began running for the door, leaving an exasperated Carson.

"I swear you people never listen to me! Why do I give any of you medical advice at all? You're all just going to blow it out your ears in the end!"

* * *

'I have to make sure… it felt like a dream…'

'I have to make sure it was real…'

The hospital gown fluttering as she ran, her bare feet swiftly going across the various floors, she pushed past people in a hurry, vaguely aware that the gown's ties were even holding tight. One thing was for sure, it was a good thing her undergarments had been left on her.

She turned right, then left, heading for the living quarters. Her muscles were already aching from the sudden unwanted exercise, and she reached his door. She quickly gave the door the override command, making it slide open. He was almost dressed; pants, shoes, undershirt all on.

His eyes darted up and met hers, and a look of equal relief flooded both faces.

She pushed herself off the door frame, and threw her arms around him.

"I'm glad to see you up and exercising already." He said, smirking down at her. She blindly swatted at his arm, and after a moment, she stood straight, letting his shirt go.

"You know, we have a few things to… discuss… right?" he said, as she nodded.

He moved her to the bed, sitting her down as he began pacing.

"I mean, we work in the same department, we work together regularly, we can't, right? It's too distracting, it would complicate things…"

"Rodney..."

"Not only that but what if something happened and you ended up pregnant? You'd have to leave Atlantis, I'd go with you because I wouldn't leave my kid and girlfriend out there alone… Girlfriend would be the right word, right?"

"Rodney!"

"And if the SG-C got wind of it, you'd be sent away, we'd be reassigned…"

"RODNEY!"

He stopped the pacing and the string of words to look at her.

"You DO realize you're massively overreacting, right?"

He tilted his head to the side. "Wha-"

She stood up and crossed her arms. "You're being ridiculous…"

Rodney puffed up in annoyance. "Oh do explain how, miss know-it-all."

She stood up, her eyes narrowed, and instantly, Rodney realized he had made her angry. Moving in front of him, she poked her finger into his chest and growled. "First off, you're making a LOT of assumptions that I would even be remotely interested in any kind of relationship after your little tirade here. Second, you're definitely overreacting, since, if I recall, you were all hot and bothered about that chick from medical who was just so perfect at everything a few weeks ago, and NONE of that crap bothered you then. And third, you seriously need to get over yourself! You act like you're just this irresistible man who everyone wants, but when you get like this…" she moved forward and pushed his shoulders lightly. "NO ONE wants to be around you."

He glared and leaned forward, before sneering a bit. "That didn't stop you in that laboratory, did it? Or would any old pole have worked-"

Her hand connected with his face and he stumbled back, before she turned on her heels and walked out of the room.

He narrowed his eyes at the door, then sighed and sat heavily on the bed. Every time he got close to any woman, hell, anyone for that matter, he had a bad habit of shoving them back. And he had probably just done irreparable damage…

* * *

"Bring the one with the glasses."

"Which one… did Lord Ozymandias mention which one with glasses he wanted? There are two in there, a female and a male…"

"The male."

From around the corner in the prison, Daniel leaned forward and looked up. "Well, I guess they want me for something." He said. "I'll see if I can gather some intel on what's going on."

"Don't get hurt Daniel." Sam said, as Daniel shrugged. "Eh, we've done this a million times, this is no different."

The guards opened the door to the cell, and pulled Daniel out.

"Come on guys, ouch! I don't think there's any reason you need to be so rough, I'm coming with you." He muttered, as they jabbed him with their staffs.

As they marched Daniel away, Beth moved forward and peered wide eyed from the bars. "Are you serious? You're not going to do anything?"

"There's nothing we could do, Beth. Daniel has the best chance of deciphering something on his way to or from being interrogated, something we can use to escape." Sam said, as Beth sighed and nodded.

"I hate this… I've never even been in trouble with the law on Earth before."

"Well miss perfect, this isn't like having a parking ticket, these are aliens who want to kill us." O'Neill said, as Beth looked at him.

"Aliens… but to them, we're the aliens, right? I mean, to them we're the invaders…"

O'Neill simply blinked at her, before focusing on the wall again. He hadn't thought of it like that, to be honest.

In the interrogation room, Daniel was sat in a chair and strapped into it, as Ozymandias entered the room. His mate was behind him, with a small satchel clutched to her chest as lovingly as a mother would hold her newborn babe. She sat off to the side, as Ozymandias paced in front of Daniel.

"Pray tell, where are the scientists?"

Daniel had the decency to look confused at least. So, Carson had gotten them out before Ozymandias had gone after them, that was good at least. "I'm not sure what you mean."

Ozymandias grabbed an item from the satchel and pressed it to Daniel's arm, making him grunt in pain. Electro-shocks… lovely.

"I will not ask a third time, boy."

Daniel shot him a nasty look. "Not going to happen. Why don't you head on back to the Watchmen, and let Nite-Owl know I want to borrow that flying owl-ship of his while you're there-" he quipped before Ozymandias shoved the rod into the side of Daniel's neck, making him cry out in pain.

"I assure you, I have no idea what you're blithering on about, but I can promise you that your mouth is about to get you in a fair bit of trouble." Ozymandias growled, as he motioned to Ankhesenamon to hand him the satchel. Daniel glanced up after a moment, as Ozymandias began to pull tools out of the satchel.

Well, this was going to be fun…

* * *

"As your physician, I do NOT recommend this Kaitlyn, and I'm ordering you back in bed!" Carson said, as Kait continued to pack her things in her room.

"Not a chance. I just heard that SG-1 got captured, and that means my friends are on that godforsaken planet. God only knows what they're doing to them… You can't expect me to sit here on my hands!"

"I can and DO expect it! Your body needs time to recover!"

"I'll be fine, Carson. I've got a plan on how to get in there, and Colonel Sheppard said he could use me. So, either you give me something to keep some pep in my step, or I go without. Your choice." She said, before looking up at Carson. "Daniel would do the same for us." She said. Carson nodded, sighing, and grabbed a syringe and a vial.

Holding her finger up, she rolled her pants to reveal her hip, giving Carson a look. "And if you sedate me, you'll really hate what'll happen when I come to." She said, as he rolled his eyes and jabbed her in the hip with the needle, making her yelp.

"Like I would sedate you. I may not agree with your decision but that's no reason to sedate you, even I know that." He said, as she simply rubbed the spot where he had injected her. She pulled her black tank top down over the black pants, tightened the ponytail, and threw the dark green hat over her head.

"Be careful, please." He said, as she gave him a thumbs up before holstering a weapon. "Oh, and did you see Rodney? How is he?"

She glared at that. "He's as much of an asshole as he ever was." She said before turning and heading out the door, leaving a confused Carson sitting there.

"Well, that was unexpected."

That was what led Carson to the other scientist's quarters, a confused look on his face as he knocked at the door. With no answer, he used his medical override, and opened the door, and stepped in to find Rodney reading a book with an annoyed look on his face.

"Well at least one of my patients is taking the bed rest I prescribed." He said, as Rodney glanced up.

"What are you blathering about now?"

"Nothing really, Nichols is on her way back to Sokra with Sheppard and his team to try and help SG-1 is all."

Rodney shrugged, going back to his book with barely a change in expression, but Carson noticed it. "And I care why?"

"Well, I just figured that with the way things had been around here before the lab, and then what happened on Sokra, that you may care about her well-being is all."

"Well, you thought wrong. I'd care more if she wasn't so stubborn, but she's a grown woman, she'll do what she wants to do."

Carson shot him a look. "Pity that someone's not got enough influence on her to sway her into staying."

"Yup. It's a pity."

Carson glared and left the room. 'I don't know what happened between those two, but one of them needs to be an adult, and I have a feeling it's the one sulking with a damn book that needs to do so more."

* * *

Kait looked at the rest of the initial rescue team, and steeled herself as the Stargate was activated. She adjusted the vest on her body, and checked her weapons.

"Remember, we get in, we try and get SG-1 their chance to get out. There will be other teams coming through if we can't do this, but then we'll be looking at a potential war with this planet… right now, we can possibly get out without causing all-out war." Sheppard said, looking to all of them. "Do not do anything stupid…" he turned and began walking through the Stargate.

In the meantime, a certain scientist had been thinking about Carson's words, and had put his book down and taken off for their gate room.

He arrived just in time to see the last of the group go in, weapons up, one of them with a brown ponytail.

Damn.

* * *

Daniel was thrown backinto the cell with a wet thud, his shirt soaked with blood. He groaned as he sat up with help from Sam and O'Neill.

"Daniel? Are you ok, what happened? You're covered in blood but there's no wounds…"

"Yeah, Sam, that's because they decided to heal me after each round of 'interrogation'. His lover, Ankhesenamon, is ruthless. She sliced my skin open, then they'd heal me. I'm glad Teal'c taught me some torture resistance techniques, otherwise I promise you… I wouldn't have been able to hold out."

O'Neill helped him sit back, then stood up and looked at him. "What did they want?"

"Oh, they want Rodney and Kait. They need them… they want them to work on the virus, they want their blood because, they were exposed and then cured. They have natural immunity now, and that's invaluable and more efficient than the vaccine that Carson made. Not only that, but I think they were lying… I think their Goa'uld bodies are still IN there… I think their Wraith/Goa'uld bodies are-"

"They're falling apart…" Beth muttered. Daniel looked at her, and nodded.

"How'd you know that?"

"It was the bloodwork and genetic tests I ran on Atlantis… their bodies are part Wraith, but still part Goa'uld… and the Goa'uld part needs a new host every so often. Genetically, the two I tested in Atlantis were starting to fall apart. It was the beginning stages, subtle, but it was there."

Daniel nodded. "I think that's another reason they want Rodney and Kait. Their natural immunity makes them perfect hosts, they can handle this virus and not die now, and the bodies would give the Goa'uld symbiotes some protection. As they are now, they're exposed. I think they're thinking that it's better to be reliant on a host body, than to die in their current ones."

Teal'c nodded. "That would make sense, even the Goa'uld must take new hosts eventually, the Sarcophagus can only keep them alive for so long without problems."

"So, we need to warn the SG-C to keep them protected for now…" Sam said, as O'Neill barked a laugh.

"Oh yeah, because that's going to go swimmingly. 'Hey, do you guys mind if we borrow your communications so that we can contact our commanding officers to keep the two civilian scientists your leaders want away from here?' Yeah, you get right on that and tell me if it works. In fact, if it DOES work, I'll personally buy everyone here the first round of drinks when we get home."

Beth looked at them. "Well it's not like they'd come here, not after being sick like that."

Daniel exchanged a look with Sam. "Er… you don't know Rodney or Kait very well."

* * *

As they arrived on Sokra, the gate shut down behind them. "Ok people, we have 2 hours to learn something and report back to the SG-C. General Hammond will be sending SG teams 3 and 4 at that time. If we can get them out, great, but no heroics, we're here on recon only." Sheppard said. "Divvy up into teams of 3 and head out."

Kait ducked back, letting people go off in groups and head off. She was an odd number, and preferred to work by herself right now after what happened earlier. Besides, she needed to bust into some technological areas and she really didn't want some military person asking her over and over what she was doing when she needed to concentrate.

She took off for the main building in the city, off to hunt for the control room of the city. If she could cause a little chaos and unlock all the doors in the city, she knew SG-1 could get themselves free and get away. All she had to do was cut the circuit and block it from re-connecting, and that would be simple enough. A computer virus would make it so that the computers running the city would believe there was a broken circuit. And that was just her forte.

* * *

Rodney stormed into Elizabeth's office, a look of determination on his face. One way or another, he would make this right.

"Elizabeth, we need to talk. When are the next SG-teams going to Sokra?"

"Why? You need to rest…"

"Because I'm going, they'll need my help and expertise. So you can either send me yourself, or I'll take a puddle jumper on my own. Either way… I'm going back to Sokra."


	8. 8: Maybe this wasn't the best Idea

Rodney glared at Elizabeth, who was returning his look with a stern expression.

"You are not going back to that planet, Rodney!"

"And if I go on my own? Without permission? You know I can manage it, Elizabeth, it's not that hard to rig up."

She shook her head, pressing her fingers to her temples and shooting him a look that was fit to kill. "Rodney, I cannot afford to lose you both. I need more than Zelenka here running things… If you go, and something happens, then we all suffer."

"Elizabeth, Zelenka is more than competent to do what needs to be done, and besides, it's not like I wouldn't be coming back. I doubt she did anything more than do some lab work on site or something. I really can't imagine her doing anything else." He said, partially trying to convince her, but also himself. Elizabeth shook her head and shot him a look.

"Rodney…"

"How often have I asked you to trust me?" he asked, as she raised her eyebrows.

"The time you destroyed an entire solar system comes to mind…"

"Ah… right. There was that…"

* * *

The Stargate on Sokra flared to life again and the next group came in, including SG teams 3 and 4, and a very ornery Rodney McKay. Sheppard marched up to them, and after motioning to the SG teams, pointed at Rodney, and crooked his finger in a follow-me motion. Rodney rolled his eyes, but followed him anyhow.

"What are you doing here, and why are you not recovering?" Sheppard hissed once they were off to the side.

"Well Nichols decided to head off with your team, and whatever her plan is, she's going to need some help. And if you don't need her I plan to drag her stubborn rear right back to Atlantis , with or without her cooperation." He said, as Sheppard cast a glance to the side. "Where is Nichols, Sheppard? I thought she'd be here in some make-shift laboratory or something…""

"We don't exactly know."

McKay's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "WHAT?! How do you not know?!" His mind went to about six different bad places. "She's a WOMAN, and she was the only woman on this off world mission team! How did you lose her?"

"She took off on her own before I could pair her with someone! By the time we realized that she had gone off, it was too late for us to go after her. Someone swears they saw her heading towards the main building, but…"

Eureka. Rodney had a glimpse of thought… he remembered there being a room in there that was full of technology, and they had called it the control room… which one could assume meant that it ran the whole damn place and supplied power, air to some places, and more…

"She's going for the control room. She's going to cut the power. " Rodney said, grabbing his weapon and swiftly walking towards the main building. Sheppard was quickly on his heels, a confused look on his face as he walked with Rodney, who was actually tough to keep up with at the moment.

"WAIT. Why do you say that?" Sheppard asked.

Rodney shrugged, then gave a small smirk.

"Because it's what I would do."

* * *

This was going far easier than she had thought it would.

Kait skulked around the main building, making her way to the control room. Her head was starting to feel like she was floating, and she honestly felt like garbage. So, Carson was right, she supposed… She probably should have stayed in the medical bay. But it would pass, and this would get SG-1 out if she was right, so that would make it worth it.

Rounding the corner, weapon in her hands, she glanced for guards, spotting none. Letting out a breath, she moved into the control room, and locked the door behind her, finally able to relax for a few minutes.

She moved to the control panel, and pulled the Ancient memory crystal from her pocket, attaching it to the computer system. Pressing some of the keys, she started the download sequence for the virus… and covered her ears a moment later as an alarm began blaring. She kicked the console. "Damn. Good luck stopping the virus now, I give it 10 seconds until this whole place has no power…"

There was a banging at the doors, and with that, she began to hunt for anything that would work as a door stop… because, as she now realized, the doors were about to be let open and she was about to be under attack.

* * *

Rodney and Sheppard made their way inside, as they looked at their surroundings… "Ok, Rodney you go that way, find that control room. I'm going to try and make my way over to SG-1, we have intel that they may be in the prison here. Get moving fast, before-"

The power whirred to a halt, and both of them looked up with ominous looks.

"…before that happens. Go!" Sheppard shouted, as they went their separate directions. Sheppard took off to the right, Rodney to the left.

Sheppard followed the directions given by his soldier, going up a flight of stairs before coming up to some guards. Drawing his weapon, he shot them, before moving past them and into the next room, where the sounds of fighting could already be heard. As he rounded the next corner, he almost came nose to nose with Colonel O'Neill.

"Sheppard!"

"Colonel O'Neill!"

O'Neill laughed for all of a second before firing at a guard who was about to get up behind Sheppard. "So, hell of a rescue attempt you have going on here." He laughed, as Sheppard shrugged.

"We try, sir."

"Colonel Sheppard… where is McKay and Nichols?" Daniel asked, as Sheppard gave a shrug.

"Rodney's going after her now, she's the reason the power's out."

Sam started swearing, and Sheppard had the decency to look confused at least.

"Someone care to explain to me what information I'm apparently missing?"

* * *

Rodney ran around the corner, firing at two guards in the hall before hurrying to the control room. Something was not right. He could feel that something was not right… He reached the room, and spotted the door open, sounds of a scuffle coming from the room. He heard crashes and bangs, and the sound of a punch and a thud, the clattering of a body against machines, the tinkling of crystals as they hit the floor.

Kaitlyn.

He turned the corner to see a guard lifting her smaller frame by the throat, blood coming from a split lip dripping onto her tank top. Rodney glared, moved forward, and pulled the guard back and off of her, throwing him to the floor with a grunt before raising his weapon and shooting the guard in the neck, the guard gripping his throat and holding a hand on the bleeding out wound.

Rodney moved to Kait and helped her up, as she coughed. He noted her wounds, her skin tone… she would be fine. His thoughts went back to his words from before, a lump forming in his throat as she began to speak, her voice raspy.

"I… I cut the power… used a virus… I didn't think, the door unlocked as soon as the power shut off, and the guards came in. I fought one off but the other one, I couldn't-"

He cut her off by placing his mouth on hers and then pulling her against him. "I'm sorry."

It was all he said, and all he needed to say. She nodded, grabbing his shirt and pressing herself closer to him. All he wanted right now was to claim her, kiss her until the pain stopped and make her happy… give her what she deserved, but unfortunately, they had more pressing matters to attend to… like getting back out of the building in one whole piece.

His radio perked on at that point.

"Rodney! Answer if you can hear me!"

"McKay here, what's wrong Sheppard?" he asked, a flash of new worry crossing his already tired features.

"Do you have Nichols yet?"

"She's safe."

"Good. Head back to the Stargate. Dr. Jackson and Major Carter told me that they're after you two, they want to make you hosts. Get back to the Stargate!" Sheppard said, making Rodney blanch then pull her to her feet.

"We've got to go."

They began to run, heading back to the main entrance, their feet hitting the ground hard and fast. Down the stairs, take a turn…

"Rodney, guards!"

He grabbed her and pushed her into the adjoining hallway, as they continued their run.

"There! Lord Ozymandias wants them alive and unharmed!"

Rodney sucked in air, as guards appeared around the corner in front of them. Trapped, cornered, he turned on his radio, so Sheppard could at least hear some of what was happening. He pulled Kait behind him, as she looked up at him. He gave a sideways smirk. "I can do something brave for once in my life." He said, as she sighed, squeezing his shoulders.

"I've always thought you were brave, Rodney." She said quietly. He motioned for her to try and make her way out, which was pointless because they were surrounded from all sides.

He pulled out a weapon, and began to fire, as one of the guards closed in and grabbed Kait's arm. She threw a punch that hit the guard hard enough to knock a tooth loose. They both fought like wolverines, kicking and shooting and throwing punches until they were overtaken, which inevitably happened. Once they were…

Kait yelped as the guard pulled her by the hair and threw her down, her eye darkening and her lip dripping a steady stream of blood. Rodney hit the floor in front of her, unconscious from a blast from their weapons, not that it was stopping them from kicking the shit out of him…

"Stop!" she croaked out, but it was the last thing she saw for a while as the end of a weapon hit her in the head, knocking her out.

* * *

SG-1, Beth, and Sheppard had all stopped at the Stargate, frowning. They had listened to the radio, and heard the whole scuffle between the guards and the scientists. O'Neill looked at Sheppard. "We can't go back now." He said, as Sheppard nodded.

"Yep. And I need backup… let's get Ronon and Teyla here… can the Tok'ra help if they become hosts?"

"Possibly, as long as they become hosts the traditional way, but it may do irreparable harm…" Sam said, as Sheppard nodded.

"Then I guess we need to get them before they become hosts…" he said, before turning from the team and making a call through the Stargate. If he was going to have any chance of getting them back, he needed Ronon back on Atlantis and on his way to Sokra now, same with Teyla, both of whom had went to another planet in search of more answers on the virus that was in the lab, and the Ancient experiments.

* * *

Rodney woke up in a cell, his arms chained in front of him. He sat up, rubbing at a sore spot on his head, and wiped away blood. 'Oh fantastic.' He thought, before looking around.

"Kait?"

He spotted her laying on the floor to the side of him, and he moved over to her as fast as his body would allow. He pushed her hair back, wincing at the damage done to her. Her face was marked up with bruises and her chin and lip had dried blood caking it. He raised his shackled hands to touch her shoulder.

"Wake up Kait. Come on."

She opened her eyes groggily, and he almost wished she hadn't. The look on her face as the pain set in broke his heart.

"I'm sorry, I would have let you sleep if I thought for a moment it was safe… but I don't think it is…" he said. She gasped up at him, and he had a fleeting thought wondering how bad his own injuries were.  
"Hey, focus, don't worry about me, it's just some bruises. We need to get out of here. Do you have any ideas, information on the locking system, anything?"

She shook her head, and he cursed inwardly. He had been hoping for something, anything, to get them out of there.

There was a clanking outside of the door, and a guard walked up. He reached down and yanked Rodney to his feet, doing the same to Kait a moment later.

"What do you want? What more could you possibly want?" Rodney spat out, as the guard sneered.

"My Lord and his beloved wish to have an audience with you."


	9. 9: We're in trouble now

"STOP SHOVING!"

Rodney shouted back at the guards who were pushing him and Kait to see Ozymandias and Ankhesenamun, the guards shoving their weapon into Rodney's shoulder blades once more. He glared as he walked, as they reached two golden doors. Oh yeah, you could totally tell that these guys were Goa'uld when you got deep into their main center…

The doors opened and the two were pushed in, Kait landing hard on her side and Rodney landing on his knees. The two in front of them were… well, they seemed pretty pissed, to be frank. Rodney almost flinched as the woman stood and moved to him, raising her hand up, but when her touch was gentle, he was actually shocked.

She snapped her head up to the guards. "Bring me the ones who captured them."

Rodney took that time to help Kait up, checking her over once again to make sure she wasn't injured any further. Ankhesenamun watched them interestedly, as she paced in front of her own chair. As the guards who had beaten them were brought in, Kait visibly flinched and shrunk down a bit.

Ankhesenamun noted the reaction with annoyance. "You. What were you all told when you were sent after them?" she asked, seemingly patiently.

"Capture them by any means."

She shook her head. "No, you were told not to MARK them. Do you see what I see? That looks a lot like you marked them up."

They exchanged glances. "They were fighting back."

"And a group of you were such big cowards that you couldn't take a few hits and capture them without beating them? One of them is a small woman, I'm sure she didn't get in many hits. And yet she is as beaten as the male. Any excuses there before you get your punishment for defying us?"

They immediately bowed low, apologizing to her, as she raised her hand and pulled their life force from their bodies.

Straightening, Ankhesenamun moved to Rodney and Kait, and raised her hand once more to Rodney. He flinched slightly, but straightened as he felt a warmth flow through his body. Looking at his hands, he watched in astonishment as his wounds closed and healed. He looked to her in confusion, as she smiled.

"You are more valuable to us uninjured, scientist. We need you both whole. Do not mistake this as any kind of affection towards you." She said, as she let her hand drop and moved to Kait, who pulled back hard and almost stumbled back down. Her hand raised again, and she healed Kait's wounds next.

As Ankhesenamun rose and moved back to her seat, Kait bit her lip, then spoke.

"Why us?"

Ozymandias smiled. "Simple, my child. You are immune. Your bodies carry the precious immunities to that virus. We can never have those immunities, to gain them, we would need your bodies. We are offering you a deal, instead of torture. We want our hosts to be well cared for after all. And if you refuse, we will take you by force. So it is in your best interests to simply agree, and allow yourselves some time to be pampered in these last moments. We have a ceremony planned tomorrow, but until then you can either be our prisoners or our guests. What do you say?"

Kait was about to tell him where he could shove that offer when Rodney spoke. "Sounds fair enough. So, look, will we be allowed access to our bodies at all? Will we ever get control?"

Ozymandias gave him a curious look. "You do not object?"

Kait gave him a look that said the same thing, albeit far more colorful than that.

"It doesn't matter, you're going to do this whether we agree or not right? So why not be comfortable?" he said, giving Kait a subtle look to go along with it.

"True enough. Well this went better than we had hoped! Allow my people to prepare you for the ceremony! We have fresh clothing for you both to wear and a feast this evening. We have quarters for you both, or you can share a room to talk if you wish, and we have a bathing spot." Ozymandias looked positively gleeful, as his wife stood and went up to Kait.

"Come child, I have the perfect clothing for you. It is custom for the female host body, in our culture, to learn a dance and perform at the feast. We have such little time to prepare, but we shall do it." She said with a smile, leading Kait away, as she gave Rodney one last look, a look which said one thing… You had better know what you're doing.

Rodney looked as she was led off, and looked at Ozymandias as he walked up.

"Now, let us take care of you. A bath and some fresh clothing, and rest until the feast." He said, as Rodney was led off to a different part of the place.

'Well at least I can try and find an escape route from here.' He said.

Kait was being led to a large marble tub, her clothing removed, and was being scrubbed. She stared into the warmed water, her eyes blank. She had less than 24 hours in charge of her own body… that was tough to come to grasp with… At least Ankhesenamun had left her alone at this point.

"Young one…"

Kait's head turned to one of the servant girls, as the girl looked at her. "Yes?"

"I have heard of your plight… yours and the other one from Atlantis… I have a solution for you… I am Nefertiti, I am one of the Tok'ra."

Kait nodded. "Okay…"

"I can help you to get free… but it will require you to temporarily allow me to use your body as a host. This girl is dying, her home is not like this planet, and we have been undercover here so long that we are both dying. Ankhesenamun killed my family… I wish for nothing more than to see her and Ozymandias dead. And in your body, with your strength, I could do it. Once we left this place, you could go have me removed and put in a new host by my people… What do you say?"

Kait took a deep breath.

"Can I think about it?"

"Of course, child. Come to me tonight, after the feast, if you agree. There will be a ceremony in the morning, that is when I would strike."

Nefertiti left, and Kait finished her bath with more on her mind than she had before.

And if that was bad… her face when she saw the skimpy outfit they expected her to wear was even worse.

The time for the banquet quickly came, and Rodney sat next to Ozymandias, with a spot next to Ankhesenamun open and waiting. He glanced around…

"If you are looking for Kaitlyn, she will be here shortly. Her outfit is a bit constraining and hard to get into. Metal can be difficult to get into."

'Metal?' Rodney thought, but he didn't get much more time to think, as she entered the room, and he was floored.

Her feet were bare, designs in ink were drawn all over her bare arms and legs. Her hair was fully straight for the first time since he had met her. She had on a top that wasn't much more than a bra, made of gold, and a pair of bottoms that were smaller than most bikinis, with a large piece of fabric across the back in a teal shade. On her head was a gold head piece, and various gems glittered as they dangled from the top and the head piece. Her eyes were heavily lined in charcoal, her lips a gold color.

"Lovely!" Ozymandias exclaimed, as Ankhesenamun smiled brightly. "She will make a beautiful host for you, my love!"

Rodney cringed at the thought of this creep touching her, but then music began to be played and she began moving… and when she moved… her whole body flowed… She twisted in ways that he had no idea she could move, and Ankhesenamun even gave her a look.

"Those are not the steps I taught her." She said, almost crossly.

"It is alright, my love. It is unique if nothing else." Ozymandias said with a chuckle, as Rodney stared.

'Unique? She's exquisite…' he thought, as her eyes caught his another time, sucking the breath from his body with a glance. Her legs moved gracefully on the floor, her eyes staying mostly down.

Concentrating, it looked like.

It made Rodney think of something he had seen when they were working out one time on Atlantis. As he and Kait had been chatting on the exercise bikes, trying to get some exercise in, when Teyla had come in with a couple of the Athosians. After a few minutes, they had begun to do some kind of tribal dance. He hadn't been interested, to be honest, but Kait had gotten up and asked Teyla to teach it to her, and she had. He had watched semi-interestedly, but had gone back to his own thing after a little while.

That was exactly what Kait was doing right now. She was repeating the moves Teyla had taught her. And she was doing it splendidly. Her hips swirled, her back arched, and her hands moved in a rhythm all their own. Her whole body was focused, her muscles tightened in concentration. Her hair was whipping onto her face as she spun, her thighs and calves and taut back emphasized in the outfit she was in, the teal standing out against her skin.

As she finished and the music stopped, the room broke into applause, some polite, others more enthusiastic. Rodney was among those who was enthusiastic, and as he caught her eye he sent her a reassuring look, making her smile slightly in response.

She nodded to the others, then took her seat next to Ankhesenamun, who pulled her close and hissed in her ear, reprimanding her for changing the dance.

Rodney took a bite of his food, as he waited for this feast to end. Usually he was all about eating, even in the face of danger, but tonight… this was possibly his last night, their last night, before they were snuffed out of their own bodies. More and more people were performing, and he was thinking during all of it. He made the required small talk, of course, but in general, he wasn't there. He was trying to work things out, to figure out how to get them out of this, but so far… he was drawing a blank.

As they let them go for the evening, he went to the room given to him, laying down on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. This was better than a jail cell, and he was hoping by tomorrow he would have something else, any kind of plan… He just couldn't think of a way out of here.

He wasn't expecting a knock at the door, or the quiet voice that asked if she could come in…

Kait sucked in a breath, as he called to her to open the door and come in. Should she tell him? She had no idea what she was going to do with this deal with Nefertiti, but she did know that for now… she wanted to be with Rodney.

As she entered, she moved to the bed where he was, and sat next to him. She leaned forward slightly and sighed.

"Do you have any kind of a plan?" she asked him, watching his face.

"…No."

She sighed and fell back onto the bed, closing her eyes.

"I was afraid of that."

"Well this is better than being in a prison cell…" he muttered, as she sighed.

"I know, Rodney, and I am far from ungrateful. I'm just… we have to…"

"I know. I've been trying to think about it… I may have something but it's not a plan and it's not fail-proof. We could easily be killed." He said.

She nodded, and decided her next move at that point. Turning to him, she pulled him to her. "Then we should make tonight count." She said, as he stopped her.

"Wait… I don't want this to be a thing you do only when we're about to die or something."

She gave a small laugh and nodded. "Deal."

Before she could do anything, he stopped her again. "Wait. Look I need to apologize… a real apology."

"Rodney…"

"Let me finish. Look, Kait, I was out of line. I should have never said those things to you… and I'm sorry." He said, as she gave him a look, before placing one hand on his chest and bringing her lips to his.

Kissing him, she pushed him back onto the bed and let her baser instincts take charge. His hands pulled at her clothing, as she gave him a hungry look.

"It won't come off all the way… I mean the bottoms are cloth so they can be… you know… pulled to the side. But they won't come off without help." She said, as he nodded.

"Hey, I'm ok with the Leia look for now." He grinned at her, as she swatted at him.

"You would be. Nerd."

"Geek."

"And proud of it, thank you very much."

She snickered as he pushed her onto the bed and nuzzled her neck. She moaned lightly as his hands caressed her bare stomach, making her muscles twitch in anticipation. His hands moved to her thighs, making her suck in air and tilt her head back. He watched her with hooded eyes, moving his mouth from her collarbone to her chest, becoming more than aware of his own growing need. He ground himself against her, as she let out a noise of appreciation.

He gave her a small look, and she tilted her head.

"What?"

"You seem anxious." He said, before starting to grin. "You can't want it that bad…"

"Considering the situation… yeah, I kinda do. Besides, you sure didn't disappoint last time… not by a long shot." She said, as she wiggled her eyebrows at him and snickered, making him drag his fingers along her ribcage, making her squeal. After a few moments, he let up, and she caught her breath before swatting at him.

He grinned at her. "Well I don't plan to disappoint now." He said, as he shed the last of his clothes and pushed aside the fabric on the bottoms of her outfit. With some positioning and a push forward, her world melted and she no longer cared about tomorrow…

Hours later…

It was dark. Rodney was snoring next to her, as her hand caressed his face. She didn't want to get up, she didn't want to leave tonight, to think that this could be their last night… and that was when she made up her mind. Maybe it might be her last night, but she could hopefully make it so that it wasn't his last night.

She stood up and kissed his cheek. "I think I'm in love with you, McKay. That's why I'm agreeing to do this… I hope you remember that…" she said, as he stirred and blinked one eye open. She paused as he stared up at her with one eye blearily opened.

"Hm?"

"Nothing, go back to sleep." She said as he grunted and rolled over.

She headed for the door, as she heard him mutter from the bed. "Love you too."

Stopping in her tracks, she turned, and moved back to the bed, to the sleeping man who had her heart. She knelt and kissed his cheek, before turning and leaving, quietly, so as not to wake him.

Moving through the halls, she quickly found the place Nefertiti had been talking about, and as promised… she was waiting there for her.

"Have you made your mind up, child?"

"I have… I'll do it… just please keep Rodney safe." She said, as Nefertiti nodded, opening her gown in the front to reveal the spot where the symbiote, for lack of a better word, would come out. As the alien creature revealed itself, she gasped, then closed her eyes, and clamped her mouth shut as the blinding pain overwhelmed her senses. Her body felt as though it were on fire, every molecule hurt from her scalp to her toes. Her breath left her body and she burned all over.

And it was over.

Her eyes closed as her head fell forward, and she looked down. The body of the servant girl fell to the floor, and her hand raised, moving the body to a dark corner. Her eyes opened, and emitted a soft glow.

She straightened, and pushed her shoulders back, her chin tilted up. Her control was given back to her, and she looked at her hands and her stomach in awe, the wound from the creature entering her was gone without even a scar.

Tomorrow, this would all be over, it would be nothing more than a bad dream.

****Author's note- Hey guys! As it turns out I have more muse for this than the other one I'm working on, so I broke my usual order and updated this one back to back instead of working on the other one. I hope you enjoy! And get ready for a fight, because Nefertiti is ready to kick some butt! (And yes I know, I never cut to Sheppard and Daniel in this chapter, but we'll get back to them in the next few chapters!)****


	10. 10: In Endings, There Are New Beginnings

Rodney awoke the next morning to a knock at the door and blinked, rubbing the crusts from his eyes. He had to think a moment before realizing where he was, and what was about to happen. When he did, he sighed.

'Damn… I meant to stay up and think of something…' he thought, before going to the door and opening it. There was a guard and one of the men who had brought clothing yesterday. He had another set of clothes, these were a rich black color with teal trim though.

"So, guess it's time to get ready?" he asked, his face falling as the man nodded and moved into the room.

Little did he know, Kait had already gotten herself ready, and had been dressed in a gold and teal skirt with a top that wrapped around her chest and torso. Her hair was the same as yesterday, but her hair had beads added to it. Unseen were the daggers laced with the viral toxin from the lab, and a venom deadly to Wraith that were tucked into her skirt. She left her quarters, and walked to Rodney's, waiting as he stepped out.

Rodney blinked at her, taken aback by how calm and collected she was. They were about to be taken hostage, basically, by two crazy Goa'uld/Wraith hybrids, and she was cool as a cucumber…

"Rodney…"

He turned his head to look at her, as she walked down the hall with him.

"No matter what happens… trust me?"

What did that even mean?! He had no choice but to nod, as she took a breath. They walked into a ceremonial room, and they were brought before Ozymandias and Ankhesenamun… this time, the king and queen, as one might call them, were dressed the same as they were.

"Let the ceremony begin!" Ozymandias said, as the doors were closed and locked, the guards in the room stepping back.

'Now is our chance!' Nefirtiti thought, as Kait's head dipped forward and she allowed the Tok'ra to take over her body. In an instant, her eyes glowed, and the daggers at her waist flew, one striking Ozymandias, others hitting the guards, and one narrowly missing Ankhesenamun. Ankhesenamun glared, and went to attack, as Ozymandias, along with the guards, fell and began to seize. She cradled him, speaking loving words to him…

Rodney just stared, then turned to Kait. "The hell did you do?" he asked, as she looked at him and made him gasp. Her eyes were glowing. "You… who are you?! Why are you in Kait's body?"

"I am Nefirtiti… I am Tok'ra, I want to get you both to safety."

"You…"

Ankhesenamun stood and walked down to Kait, well, Nefirtiti, and glared. "You are that pesky girl… I remember you. Your family, we killed them in a Tok'ra village years ago. Hundreds of years ago, infact… how did you get into our palace?"

"I tracked you, waited in the shadows as a faithful servant girl, until the time was right for me to exact my revenge. You will not take the humans down in your quest for power. You alone killed my family. I watched the day you met and wooed Ozymandias, the day you became a queen and not a Lady. You snuck onto this planet,took one of them as a host, pretended to be one of them, a prisoner of the Ancients, but you are not. You are Goa'uld through and through. And it is well past time for me to show you that you are not a God… you are mortal and you can and will die!"

Ankhesenamun lunged forward, her fingers outstretched, nails trying to scratch at Nefirtiti, her face contorted in pure rage. Her eyes glowed a bright white, as Nefirtiti dodged and moved back, swiftly grabbing the ceremonial weaponry on the walls and advancing. Ankhesenamun quickly donned her own pair of sais, and the two began to circle one another like panthers, as Rodney, well…

Maybe he was better to stay back on this one.

Ankhesenamun bared her teeth to Nefirtiti. "You will rue the day you followed me here."

Nefirtiti grinned. "I've been waiting for this for over a hundred years…"

The two women went after each other with the ferocity of a category 5 hurricane. The weapons sliced and clanged together, each woman being wounded in the process, even slightly with cuts and scratches. They clanged together, weapons locked, darkness on their faces.

Rodney backed up, as a pounding began at the door. His eyes looked at the door, then back, as he heard a voice call them.

"McKay! It's Sheppard! What's going on in there?"

Rodney's face turned into a face of pure relief. "SHEPPARD! Look, get this door open! They're going to kill each other!"

They could be heard outside the door with tools, attempting to open the doors. Nefirtiti whipped her head to take a glance, and in that moment, Ankhesenamun slashed her in the stomach and arm. Nefirtiti hissed, the wound dripping, and moved to get behind her, every move she made being countered by Ankhesenamun. Nefirtiti rolled towards Ozymandias, and grabbed the dagger in him, as Ankhesenamun followed behind her. As Ankhesenamun bore down on her, Nefirtiti ripped the dagger from the dead Goa'uld and slammed it into Ankhesenamun's chest.

Shocked, Ankhesenamun stumbled back, as Nefirtiti grasped the dagger and gave it a firm twist. As she glared at the dying Goa'uld, the door flew open. Nefirtiti pulled Ankhesenamun closer, and hissed into her ear. "Your time is done, dark one. You are no Goddess. You are merely a dying parasite who has been in this world far too long. I shall see you in hell…" She then let go of Ankhesenamun, letting her hit the floor, motionless.

She turned to Rodney and nodded, before the glow in her eyes left and she bent over, wincing. "Ow ow ow ow ow f%^*ing ow…"

"Kait…?" Rodney asked cautiously, as she nodded. Swiftly then, he moved over to her and pulled her to him. "Were you ever going to tell me you had made a deal with a Tok'ra?"

She at least had the decency to look sheepish. "Would it make you feel better to hear that it was kind of spur of the moment?" He shook his head at that, and she gave a small sigh, then another hiss of pain. "Morphine. Lidocaine. Stitches. Preferably in that order." She said, as he nodded, motioning at a med team that was starting to make their way in. Beckett moved over to them and began to get to work, speaking as he did so.

"The SG teams are clearing this place out as we speak. Those who surrender will be sent to the Tok'ra." He said, as he filled a syringe with fluid and grabbed Kait's arm. "This'll burn for a minute, lass." He said, as she nodded. He injected the liquid and she sucked in air at the fire that flowed in her muscle, followed by a sense of relief. She lay her head back, and that's all it took… she passed out.

"Speaking of Tok'ra…" Rodney started, as Beckett nodded.

"I noticed as we came in the room. I'll contact them as soon as we're out of here. This one seems to have willingly gone dormant… why did they want to help so badly? Do you know?"

"Revenge." Rodney simply said, as Beckett sighed, then went back to his task. As soon as they got the all-clear, a stretcher was brought in, and they headed back for the Gate.

As they walked, Rodney thought for a moment, then looked to Sheppard. "So… SG-1?"

"Helping with the clean out and then heading back to Earth. They needed some treatment but they insisted on helping out with this, something about owing us one."

He nodded, then glanced up. "Thanks."

Sheppard shrugged. "You'd have done it for us. Whether you'll admit it or not."

Rodney snorted, then looked up at the gate in front of them. Home. He took a deep breath, then stepped into the event horizon, ready to leave this hell hole behind him.

* * *

When Kait came to, she groggily looked around and took in her surroundings… she recognized the spires of Atlantis, the ancient lighting and the tech that was being used currently to keep her fluids up. She went to sit up, rubbing at her eyes, when she felt a heaviness on her legs. Glancing down, she smiled and ran a hand through his hair.

'Rodney…'

"Lass, if you want, we can get a forklift and carry him out of here. I know that can't be comfortable." the Scottsman quipped at her as he came over to check her vitals.

"Carson, be nice." She said, before putting her hand on his arm. "Seriously, let him sleep. He's been through hell."

He nodded, as she sat back. Giving him a look, she put her hand to her stomach, the area she had allowed Nefirtiti to take hold of her. "Is the Tok'ra…?" she trailed off, as he nodded.

"She's gone, I'm afraid… the strain of keeping you alive and using her powers took its toll. She was not well off in the first place from what she managed to tell us. She gladly sacrificed herself to keep you alive."

"Alive?"

"You had some internal damage from your fight. I believe one of the blows that Ankhesenamun dealt ruptured a kidney, causing some internal bleeding. Nefirtiti used her power to keep you from bleeding out internally, and gave us the time to get you into surgery and get you patched up. You should be right as rain in a few more days."

She nodded, running her fingers through Rodney's hair some more while he slept. That Tok'ra had sacrificed so much so they could escape, and to stop Ankhesenamun… She was gone. All of them were gone…

As Carson left, she heard a mutter from the bed. Glancing down, she grinned after a moment.

"I thought he'd never leave. You know he can get rather clingy…"

She poked the shoulder on her leg, and he sat up and stretched before looking at her with a small smirk. "Feeling better?"

She nodded. "Yep, tons, in fact you'd never guess I had been a host to an alien being. Aside from the collateral damage, I'm great." She grinned at him as he took the moment to cock his eyebrow at her.

"Good, we've got things to do."

She tilted her head at him, curious now. "Such as?"

"Well…" he trailed off, snaking one hand behind her head and neck and rubbing the sore, tight muscles. "First we have something that we need to do in a non-death impending circumstance… then dinner, maybe take a small vacation on Earth… and then more of that other thing we need to do in non-death impending circumstances."

She giggled lightly. "Well… I'm game for that."

Smirking, he used his hand to pull her close and kiss her.

* * *

EPILOGUE

"Rodney! Come ON! Hurry up, we're going to be late!"

She smoothed out the pale blue satin on her form, grinning down at him as she fingered the small, white plastic in her hands. He really did need to hurry, he was supposed to be receiving an award for one of his theories that he had put out last month tonight, but at this rate he'd be receiving it from home, delivered with a pizza… She missed Atlantis, but they needed this every year.

It had been 2 years since they had been taken by the Goa'uld on Sokra, and they made it a point to go away from Atlantis every single year to regroup and spend time together. They had survived the Wraith, they had survived the second rise of the Replicators. Now, they needed to figure out if they could survive the next thing thrown at them.

Parenthood.

She pulled the positive test from behind her back as she smiled, then took a steadying breath. As Rodney came up from the basement of the house they were renting, she gave him a kiss on the cheek. Better now than later.

"You look great." He said, smiling at her as she fidgeted, nervous. "What's wrong? Do you not want to go, because I'm perfectly happy not going, you're the one who wants to go Kait…" he went on, until she stopped him.

"No, it's fine. I promise. We need to go on and go, because II give it about nine months before we can't go out and do stuff like this anymore."

It took him a moment to process that line, as she slipped the plastic into his hands. He took one look at it before his eyes rolled back into his head and he hit the floor.

She put her hands on her hips as she nudged him with one high heeled shoe.

Well. That was Rodney for you. She wouldn't be so in love with him otherwise.

FIN!

****AUTHOR'S NOTE! - I'm SO SORRY it took so long to finish this! I've been super busy with Dr. Appts for my 17 month old and getting her hearing straight, that I've had no time to finish this! I finally found the time while on vacation! I really hope you liked this story, and I will be doing little one shot add ons, and maybe a sequel involving their child and a race similar to the Goa'uld. I have ideas. I promise I do. I will post any updates to the Kaitlyn and Rodney fic world that I've made whenever I add new one shots or the sequel gets started (which will be when I finish my Once Upon a Time fic), so check in every so often! Thank you all so so much! **


	11. SEQUEL POSTED!

Hello, anyone subbed/faved to my favorite story and fandom!

As you may or may not be aware, I have been working on the sequel to this story, taking place about a year after this one. It's finally up! Chapter one of His Conundrum: Olympus Rising is now up on my profile, and I'm working on chapters as we speak! To keep the story flowing, I'm not going to worry so much about word count in this sequel, so much as I am worried about the story flowing well. Quality over Quantity.

So, if you're interested, go check it out! It's in my profile and it has a fan favorite from SG:U in it as well, although he won't be in it until Ch. 2.

Happy reading!


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